Two Traps to Avoid (21th Sunday - Cycle C)

The Gospel reading for this Sunday warns against presumption. It is not enough to just claim to be Christian. It is not enough merely to say the words. Being a follower of Christ entails action, the reorienting of our entire lives, with Christ as our center.

There are at least two major ways that presumption can manifest itself. One is complacency. We begin with true dedication and enthusiasm. We follow Christ with a sense of excitement. But the danger is that, like the seed planted in shallow ground, we start to lose focus. We might still think that we are on the straight and narrow and are truly following Christ. But in reality, the word Christian no longer truly describes us. We might still be going through some motions, but when we are complacent, Christ is no longer central in our lives.

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Photo Credit: Храм Христа Спасителя, Cathedral of Christ the King from Wikimedia Commons.

Does Jesus Want Division? (20th Sunday - Cycle C)

Years ago, I heard a Jesuit mention in his homily that when he visited the headquarters of the Society of Jesus in Rome, he saw a life-size statue of Jesus with the Sacred Heart in an alcove. Under the statue was inscribed a verse from the Gospel Reading for this Sunday: "I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!" (Luke 12:49) The priest said that he didn't know if it was an oversight or someone's idea of a bad joke, but right next to the alcove, someone had placed a fire extinguisher.

The priest went on to say that the unfortunate juxtaposition was a good illustration of what we tend to do with the Gospel. We have the powerful message of Christ, which is meant to fundamentally transform all of society, reshaping human life entirely. But we tend to domesticate the Gospel message, robbing it of its power, making sure that the message does not disturb our comfort too much. But the Gospel message is meant to upend everything in our lives, to transform our perspective on everything and reorder all of our interactions in life. The Gospel of Christ is not to be a simple veneer on an otherwise earthly life, but a force that transforms us from within.

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Photo Credit: Altar of the church of Libyan Martyrs in Minya from Wikimedia Commons.

The One Thing We Have to Do in Life (19th Sunday - Cycle C)

The Old Testament period was a time of preparation for the coming of Christ. The Catholic Church has always interpreted the text of the Old Testament as pointing toward Christ. The events of the Old Testament foreshadow various events from the New Testament and prefigure the teachings revealed by Christ.

The First Reading for this Sunday, taken from the Book of Wisdom, reflects on the Passover, through which the Israelites were freed from Egypt, where they had been slaves for generations. The night of the Passover, the Angel of Death flew over the land of Egypt and struck down the firstborn male in every household. The Israelites were to sacrifice a lamb and smear its blood on their doorframes, which was a signal for the angel to pass over the household and not to strike down the firstborn male. When Pharaoh saw the devastation in his domain, he decided to let the Israelites go. The captives fled, but Pharaoh decided to pursue them after all. With God's grace, Moses was able to open up the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to walk dry-shod to the other side, but then the waters closed again when Pharaoh's army continued the pursuit, destroying them completely.

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What We Can Take With Us (18th Sunday - Cycle C)

In my office I display an assortment of snow globes from various parts of the world and there is a story behind the collection. In college, I became the godparent for a classmate who joined the Catholic Church. Later, she became a family friend. When she traveled, she would send us postcards. When I traveled to new locations, I would get her a snow globe in turn. But four years ago, she died as a result of an unsuccessful heart surgery. In her will, she left me the snow globes, so now the gifts I had found during my travels are back in my possession.

Nor is this the only time that things I had given to others came back to me because of their passing. Gifts for my Dad, Mom, and my Aunt Gizi (a holy water bottle from Lourdes, a decorative Virgin Mary plate from Medjugorje, and an icon of a Hungarian saint) had all come back to me after their deaths. All of these objects remind me of the stark reality highlighted by the title of an American play - You Can't Take It With You.

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The Need to Pray for Each Other (17th Sunday - Cycle C)

In the First Reading for this Sunday, taken from the Book of Genesis, we see Abraham haggling with God. Anyone who has bought something from a merchant in the Middle East would know the experience. The original Middle Eastern audience of the text would no doubt have found an element of humor in Abraham presuming to haggle with God himself.

In Middle Eastern cultures, haggling was (and often still is) an everyday part of financial transactions, usually involving an element of theatricality as both sides try to prevail over the other. But we see one key difference in the interaction between Abraham and God. Unlike in traditional haggling, in this account, only Abraham is arguing, as he is trying to lower the number needed to save the city. God gives in to him each time, without a counter argument.

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The Fruit of Patient Faith (16th Sunday - Cycle C)

In the First Reading for this Sunday, we see God Himself visit Abraham. His choice to come in the form of three men points toward the mystery of the Holy Trinity, the deepest mystery of our faith, the doctrine that God is wholly one, and yet has three distinct persons. God assuming the shape of three men for visiting Abraham also points toward the mystery of the Incarnation, foreshadowing that God would take on human nature and become one of us, which we see fulfilled in the coming of Christ among us.

Many years before this visit, God had promised Abraham that he would have a son with his wife Sarah and that he would have innumerable descendants. But Sarah had proved to be barren and in time she grew too old to have children. Despite everything, however, Abraham continued to trust. God now tells him that the promise is about to be fulfilled. Within a year, his son Isaac is born. Abraham indeed becomes the father of many nations and he is the spiritual forefather of Christians.

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Photo Credit: Jesus at the home of Martha and Mary by Harold Copping, from Wikimedia Commons.

Loving Like the Samaritan (15th Sunday - Cycle C)

Today, a four-lane modern highway leads from Jericho to Jerusalem, partially following the route of the ancient road that connected the two cities at the time of Jesus. In that period, the road was known to be dangerous, with robbers often lying in wait to despoil vulnerable travelers. People often journeyed in caravans to minimize the risk, unlike the man in the parable in this Sunday's Gospel reading, who was braving the road by himself and was overcome by robbers.

The story has come to be known as the Parable of the Good Samaritan. After two millennia of Christianity, the phrase "Good Samaritan" has a positive connotation for us. We even have Good Samaritan laws to protect people who help those in danger selflessly. However, the audience of Jesus would not have reacted positively to the idea of a Samaritan being the hero of the parable.

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