OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, KING OF THE UNIVERSE

26 NOVEMBER 2023

 

            Both those on the Lord’s right and left side are surprised.  Neither was aware of what their actions mean.  Those on the right did not recognize the Lord when they fed the hungry, or gave drink to the thirsty, or welcomed the stranger, or clothed the naked, or cared for the ill, or visited a prisoner.  At the end of time, they receive a surprising judgment of praise and affirmation.  Those on the left did not recognize the Lord either.  But in refusing to respond to the needs of those who sought their help, they failed to respond to Christ.  They receive a harsh judgment and are consigned to eternal punishment, living forever in what they have failed to do.

            We are the sheep of the Lord’s flock.  It might help us understand how this parable applies to us if we look at the Greek words for “sheep” and “goats.”  The Greek word that is translated as “sheep” can mean any small grazing animal, even small cattle.  The Greek word that is translated as “goat” is the diminutive of a Greek word “wool,” as in “little wooly creatures.”  They are less desirable, because they are not fully grown or have not reached their full potential.  The parable challenges us to behave like fully mature sheep of the Lord’s flock and recognize the Lord in the people we serve.  We cannot be one of the little wooly creatures who care only about ourselves and our own welfare and ignore the needs of others.

            Jesus invites us to grow in maturity as sheep of his flock.  Over the years, I have grown in understanding my role as a sheep called to serve the needs of others.  When I was first ordained, I served as an Associate at Saint Matthew Cathedral, where there were lots of people in need in that neighborhood.  One homeless man kept coming to the side door and asking for the young priest.  He did not want to see Bishop Crowley, the pastor, who clearly had his number!  I would always give him cash, because I did not want to be one of those goats going to hell for failing to recognize Jesus Christ in him.  One day while visiting Memorial Hospital, I heard him yelling for the “young priest” to come to his room.  He had a few of his toes amputated, because he had turned my gift into alcohol and fallen asleep outside in the cold, freezing his toes.  Instead of being a fully-grown sheep, I was for him an enabling wooly creature.        

            Our parish offers many opportunities to be mature sheep and practice the corporal works of mercy.  You can make casseroles for the Homeless Shelter to feed the hungry.  Or you can join the Saint Vincent de Paul Society or bring food for their pantry.  The refugee resettlement program can always use more volunteers.  Or you can be a minister of hospitality and welcome the stranger coming to Mass.  Our giving tree program provides clothing.  We have many parish outreach programs for the sick and homebound.  Our new prison ministry program is getting off to a good start.  Over time, the Church has added a seventh corporal work of mercy – burying the dead.  Our bereavement ministry can always use more help.  There are many local opportunities to become personally involved in serving the poor.

            Some generous parishioners have donated stained glass windows to be placed in the three rose windows of the church.  The rose window in the nave will depict the Beatitudes from Saint Matthew’s Gospel.  The seven corporal works of mercy will be in the window on one of the transepts, with the seven spiritual works of mercy on the other side.  That window will be a constant reminder that we must continue to become more mature sheep, mindful that in serving those in need, we are serving Jesus Christ himself.  It will also remind us that we must become more aware and receptive to the day-to-day needs of those around us.  If we form a pattern of dying to ourselves and responding to their needs, however big or small, we will avoid being those little wooly creatures who spend eternity stuck on themselves.  

 

THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

19 NOVEMBER 2023

 

          The master in today’s parable is extremely generous.  One talent is eighty pounds of silver or 6,000 denarii.  Since an average laborer earned one denarius for a full day’s work, one talent would give a worker 83 years of labor to invest.  In today’s dollars, he gives some forty million dollars to the three servants in various amounts.

            The master is very confident.  He never questions his servants’ trustworthiness, ability, or integrity.  He seems to have absolute confidence that leaving these huge chunks of money is a wise and prudent decision.  He is so confident that he goes away and probably sleeps well at night on his journey. 

            He has high expectations that his servants will use his gifts wisely.  His expectations are obvious when he praises the first two servants who invested his gifts well.  They had met his expectations fully.  But the third servant does not.  He has buried his talent out of fear.  Unlike the other two servants who obviously love their master, he does not.

            Jesus tells this parable to us, who are his disciples. He has been extremely generous to us.  He has emptied himself for us in the Mystery of the Incarnation, when he took on our human flesh and became one with us in all things but sin.  He has entrusted the fullness of his love to us in his teachings and in the gift of the kingdom of heaven in our midst.  He has given himself out of sacrificial love for us in his death and resurrection.  After he had accomplished his mission, he ascended to the right hand of the Father and gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit.  He has been extremely generous and has withheld absolutely nothing from us.

            We became his disciples when we were baptized.  He chose us, not because of our abilities or trustworthiness or integrity.  He has confidence in us, simply he loves us as his sons and daughters.  He is confident that we can live our baptismal promises in order to share in the fullness of the eternal gifts he has so generously given us.

Like the master in the parable, Jesus has high expectations.  He expects us to return his love by dying to ourselves on a daily basis to share in his rising.  Not only does he expect us to imitate his dying, he is gives every one of us certain gifts to various degrees and abilities.  He expects us to invest those gifts in specific ways by giving humble service.  He expects us to imitate his example of washing the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper.

When he comes again in glory at the end of time, he will reward us for the ways in which we have imitated his sacrificial love and the ways in which we have invested our gifts in humble service.  He warns us that fear is the greatest obstacle to being good stewards.  We may fail to die to ourselves when we are afraid that those deaths will have no reward.  We can neglect to be humble servants, because we are afraid that no one will notice the sacrifices we make.  When we refuse to invest the talents we have been given, we bury those talents in the ground.  When the Lord comes again in glory, there will be a judgment.  He will expect a return on his investment.

Saint Paul gives good advice.  We know neither the day nor the hour the Lord will come for us.   The Lord will come at the end of our individual lives, as he has already come for so many of our loved ones.  He will come at the end of time.  We cannot live in fear, because we do not live in darkness.  We live in the light of faith, the light that instructs us and connects us with Christ the light.  As we wait, we need to be actively involved in our faith, dying to ourselves and our selfishness each day and investing our God-given talents in humble service.  In the light of faith, we keep in mind the incredible generosity of the one who gave his life for us. 

 

THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

12 NOVEMBER 2023

 

          During November, while the farmers are harvesting the crops they had planted in the spring, we remember those loved ones whom God has “harvested” in death.  We began the month by celebrating the Solemnity of All Saints.  All those countless men and women, both canonized and those we have known, are interceding for us and giving us examples of holiness.  On the next day, we prayed for all our loved ones who have died.  We continue to pray for them, because we trust in God’s mercy.  They may be going through the process of being purified, with the fire of God’s love burning away what might separate them from God and the saints.

            In praying for the dead, we become more aware of our mortality.  Each of us will be gathered by the Lord, either in our individual deaths, or at the end of the world.  We cannot know the day or time.  This is the concern that Saint Paul addresses in his Letter to the Thessalonians.  They had expected the Lord to return in their lifetime.  However, that second coming has not occurred.  They have expressed their concern to Saint Paul, who tells them to grieve in hope.   Their hope lies in the Paschal Mystery – Christ’s death and resurrection.  Saint Paul promises that those who had died with Christ throughout their lives will share in his resurrection, even though he has not returned in glory.  He says, “then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds.”  He is using symbolic language to assure us that we too will share in the fullness of his resurrection if we share fully in his dying.  He is not talking about what some Biblical readers call “the rapture.”

            Today’s parable directly addresses each of us as disciples of the Jesus Christ.  It is based on the wedding practices of the first century in the Holy Land.  Marriages were arranged by the fathers of the bride and groom, who would go through a time of betrothal.  When the time had come for them to be married, there would be a procession of the bride from her family’s house to the family’s house of the groom.  Sometimes, that procession would be delayed as the fathers made final agreements.  That seems to be the situation in this parable.  The bridegroom and his party have been delayed.  The ten teenage virgins had fallen asleep.  But when the groom and his party arrive, the five wise virgins use the extra oil that they had brought.  The five foolish virgins had not planned ahead do not have enough oil.  They have to run to the local Martin’s and come back too late.  They are locked out of the wedding banquet.

            This parable is addressed directly to us.  We, the disciples of Jesus Christ, the faithful bridegroom, need to be prepared for his coming for us, who are his bride, the Church.  He has already delayed his coming for over two thousand years.  He will come for us at the end of our lives, as he has already come for so many of those whom we love.  We must make sure that we have plenty of oil.  The oil represents our spiritual vigilance, our willingness to put our faith into action by persevering in good works.  Those good works cannot be shared.  The wise virgins are not selfish.  The parable invites us to be honest about how often we are foolish today.  We are foolish when we come to Mass on Sunday and do not put into action in our daily lives the Mystery of the Lord’s dying and rising that we celebrate here.  We are foolish when we refuse to respond to invitations to be humble servants.  We are foolish when we pass up opportunities to be reconciled with those we have offended.  We who are waiting have time to change our ways to become like the virgins who brought extra oil.  The parable is not designed to make us afraid of death.  Instead, this parable and this month of November challenge us to evaluate how much we put our faith into practice.  Armed with this oil, we can be prepared to meet the Lord when he comes, so we can participate in the eternal wedding banquet.