Does the abundance of God’s grace mean we don’t need to worry about sin? Grace conquers sin, so we don’t have to worry about sinful ways? In our readings this week from his Letter to the Romans , St. Paul answers that question:
“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law
but under grace?
Of course not!” (Romans 6)
In Baptism we enter into the saving mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have the promise of that mystery, but not yet its fulfillment. From his own experience Paul writes “ I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self, but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Miserable one that I am!
Who will deliver me from this mortal body?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 7)
Jesus Christ is not a distant Savior, a figure of the past. The one who delivers us from our frail mortal nature, is “Christ in you. Although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
the one who raised Christ from the dead
will give life to your mortal bodies also,
through his Spirit that dwells in you.” (Romans 8)
Today we remember Pope St. John Paul II. We expect all the popes to be holy and saintly, but they’re not, statistics say. There have been 266 popes, but only 95 are remembered as saints, blessed or servants of God. Furthermore, 52 of the popes who are saints are from the first 5 centuries of the church, most of them were martyrs.
Only 2 popes have been canonized since the 16th century until the recent canonizations of Popes John XXIII, John Paul II and Paul VI. Why were these popes canonized? Each was a holy man who played a major role in the Second Vatican Council, a major event in the Catholic Church, which took place from 1962-65 and still inspires its life today.
What was Pope St. John Paul II’s role in that council? The first reading and responsorial psalm for his feast tell us:
Pope John Paul was a missionary who brought the message of Vatican II to the world: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings glad tidings…” He had a prophet’s role, the first reading from Isaiah says. He fulfilled what Psalm 96 called for: “Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.”
John Paul II was a global pope. Inspired by the Second Vatican Council’s call for a church engaged in the world, he made 104 apostolic journeys to all parts of the globe. It was a world increasingly interconnected, with nations and religions in daily contact with one another. He visited mosques and synagogues and Buddhist temples, as well as his own faithful. He reached out to Protestants and separated Christian churches of the east. As the voice of the Catholic Church, he engaged the world, in the spirit of Vatican II.
John Paul II was a charismatic bishop who became pope as new communications were creating a world wide audience and new political movements, like that in his native Poland, caught the attention of people everywhere.
Within his own church, Pope John Paul canonized more saints, from different countries and backgrounds, than any pope before him had done. The Second Vatican Council taught that holiness could be found everywhere.
The three popes, John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II had different gifts, but all saw the Second Vatican Council as the path the church should follow. That’s the way they described the way ahead – a path, a way often unmarked, a winding road where the end is not clearly seen. Still, a path is God’s way, who leads the blind on their journey and strengthens the weak till they reach their home.
For Paul the apostle, writing to the Romans about 58 AD and put to death about the year 62, the master of the house, Jesus Christ, is coming soon.
Luke, a disciple of Paul, writing his gospel about the year 80-90, had to deal with the delay in the coming of Jesus the faithful of his time faced. Why was the great promise they were expecting delayed? He deals with that question in his gospel today. ( Luke 12:39-48)
The servant who is blessed keeps watch through the night without concern for what hour his master arrives, Luke writes. Whenever his master knocks, his servant is there to welcome him. The master comes at “an unexpected day and at an unknown hour.”
” Luke accordingly shifts the early Christian emphasis away from the expectation of an imminent parousia to the day-to-day concerns of the Christian community in the world. He does this in the gospel by regularly emphasizing the words “each day” (Lk 9:23; cf. Mk 8:34; Lk 11:3; 16:19; 19:47) in the sayings of Jesus. Although Luke still believes the parousia to be a reality that will come unexpectedly (Lk 12:38, 45–46), he is more concerned with presenting the words and deeds of Jesus as guides for the conduct of Christian disciples in the interim period between the ascension and the parousia and with presenting Jesus himself as the model of Christian life and piety.” ( Commentary NAB )
It’s interesting how closely related are our readings from the Letter to the Romans and the Gospel of Luke. Some today search for signs of the last days in new visions and revelations; some see the question better left to science.
Luke’s message is best.
The readings at Mass for the 29th and 30th Sundays this year C are about Jesus’ teaching on prayer. St. Augustine’s Letter to Proba, an extensive commentary on prayer for a Roman woman, is also read during this time in our liturgy.
“Jesus who is true life itself taught us to pray not in many words as though speaking longer could gain us a hearing. After all, we pray to one who, as the Lord himself tells us, knows what we need before we ask for it.
Why he should ask us to pray, when he knows what we need before we ask him, may perplex us if we do not realise that our Lord and God does not want to know what we want (for he cannot fail to know it), but wants us rather to exercise our desire through our prayers, so that we may be able to receive what he is preparing to give us.
His gift is very great indeed, but our capacity is too small and limited to receive it. That is why we are told: Enlarge your desires, do not bear the yoke with unbelievers.” (Letter to Proba)
Prayer enlarges, nourishes, and supports the desire for God that’s within us, Augustine says. God “knows what we need before we ask for it.”
“If by that one person’s transgression the many died,
how much more did the grace of God
and the gracious gift of the one man Jesus Christ
overflow for the many.
For if, by the transgression of the one,
death came to reign through that one,
how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace
and the gift of justification
come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.” Romans 5.
Paul reminds us of the abundance of grace we have received in Jesus Christ in our reading from the Romans today. Sin brought death into the world through Adam, grace is a gift that brings much more life into the world through Christ. Adam cannot be compared to Jesus Christ; the gift of grace brought by Jesus is infinitely more than the sin of our world.
Is that the way we see it though? Our eyes may see darkness rather than light. Paul’s repeated claim for the power of grace in this reading seems to indicate he recognizes our poor vision for seeing God’s grace in our world.
We can search for alternate ways, some political movement, some religious resource, science perhaps, to make things right, in place of the righteousness of God. The Letter to the Romans guides us back to the plan of God, the mystery of Jesus Christ, who died and rose again, and sent the Spirit, the “Giver of Life” to us.
The leaves are falling from the trees and my tomato patch is shriveling next to the porch. St. Clement, an early pope, urged the Corinthians to keep the Lord’s death and resurrection in mind. Nature itself reminds us of this mystery::
“Consider, beloved, how the Lord keeps reminding us of the resurrection that is to come, of which he has made the Lord Jesus Christ the first fruits by raising him from the dead.
Let us look, beloved, at the resurrection that occurs at its appointed time. Day and night show us a resurrection; the night lies in sleep, day rises again; the day departs, night takes its place.
Let us think about the harvest; how does the sowing take place, and in what manner? The sower goes out and casts each seed onto the ground. Dry and bare, they fall into the earth and decay. Then the greatness of the Lord’s providence raises them up again from decay, and out of one many are produced and yield fruit.” (Letter to the Corinthians)
How down to earth Clement makes the mystery of the Lord’s death and resurrection. Day follows night; the seed falls to the ground, then produces a marvelous harvest. The mystery of the Jesus’ death and resurrection takes place in simple elemental time. What happened once, long ago, we experience now, day by day, as time goes by.
He’s more attentive to nature’s preaching than we are.
Lord God, deepen our faith, strengthen our hope, enkindle our love;and so that we may obtain what you promise, make us love what you command.
Saints are raised up by God to meet the needs of their time. What need did the 18th century world of St. Paul have ? The church of Paul’s day was weakened and humbled by politics, revolutions and new ways of thinking. The popes then were losing power and influence in Europe, the Jesuits were suppressed, revolutions like the French Revolution brought persecution, the suppression of church schools, religious houses, the confiscation of church assets. Some said the church was dying.
A humbled church needed to be reminded of the humble Christ, who took the form of a slave and died on a cross and was raised up by God’s power. That’s what St. Paul of the Cross did through his preaching and ministry. His message was a message the church of his time needed to hear. His message was of an abiding hope.
An “abiding hope.” That was the hope needed then. Most of Paul’s preaching and ministry took place in the Tuscan Maremma, a region north of Rome in Italy, the size of Long Island, NY. “Maremma” means swamplands. The Maremma was region of small towns and a few small cities suffering from chronic poverty and neglect. Only at the end of the 18th century did the region inch forward with some reforms. Ironically, Tuscany today is a tourist destination after Mussolini dealt with the swamplands in the 20th century. The world loves Tuscany now.
In Paul’s time, though, it was known for disease, poverty, beggars, the homeless, and bandits. Year after year things never got better. Year after year the future never got bright. Year after year Paul and his companions went from town to town, set up a cross in a church or town square and spoke of the “abiding hope” promised by Jesus Christ to the people who gathered to hear..
His preaching of the Passion of Jesus brought an abiding hope to them. God was with them, no matter how dark things were, or how long the darkness lasted.
Are we living in a church and a world like his today? I wonder, as we struggle with politics, pandemics, climate change, if we’re becoming like the Tuscan Maremma. Some say it will all be over when the political scene settles and wars are over and when science produces a new miracle that makes everything perfect. But I don’t know.
I think we are going to need an “abiding hope” to keep us going. I think the Passionists still have something to do.
May God send laborers into our vineyard. St.Paul of the Cross, pray for us.
In the United States October 20 is the feast of St. Paul of the Cross, founder of the Passionists. You can find more out about him and the Passionists here and here.
The first reading and gospel for today are important teachings about prayer. The reading from Exodus sees prayer as the way we win battles. Let’s not limit battles to battles of war, though. There are battles of sickness, battles against disappointment, battles that come from life challenges of every kind. Prayer get us through, for as the responsorial psalm reminds us:
“Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
The LORD will guard you from all evil;
he will guard your life.
The LORD will guard your coming and your going,
both now and forever.”
St. Luke’s reminds us in his gospel that though we may think we are powerless, God is our guard, on our side. God is on the side of the poor widow seeking justice from an unjust judge. She seems powerless, but she gets her way through perseverance. The widow Jesus speaks of is an example. She seems powerless, but she’s actually more powerful than the unjust judge, who seems invincible.
“God looks with favor on his lowly handmaid,” Mary says, who introduces a number of lowly people in Luke’s gospel. The Prodigal Son, expecting the last place, is welcomed to his father’s house with a feast. The thief on the cross, condemned to death, is promised Paradise.
Don’t give up, Jesus says in the parable today, God hears you when you pray.
Yet, Jesus recognizes we get tired of praying. For one reason or another, we may give up praying or perhaps our prayer becomes occasional. It isn’t doing any good, or maybe we are not good enough, we think. God isn’t listening, or maybe we think we can take care of everything ourselves. Perhaps God isn’t interested?
We can lose an appreciation for prayer or get tired of it for a number of reasons. Then, prayer becomes an unused neglected gift.
In our parable today “a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being” stands in the widow’s way. He’s a dishonest judge. He doesn’t care about God or anybody else. He seems to have absolute power.
Then, there’s the widow, who seems to have no power at all. We don’t know her grievance. Has someone cheated her; someone wronged her? She’s looking for justice, but can she get it?
Is the judge who really doesn’t care, is he involved in the grievance himself? Who knows? Humanly speaking, it doesn’t seem she has a chance of being heard. But she keeps going, she doesn’t give up, she doesn’t lose hope.
She persists.The judge says, “She keeps bothering me, she wearing me down; finally he gives in and justice is done. God is the very opposite of the unjust judge, Jesus says.
“Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.” Jesus says.
We hear those words of Jesus but we have questions about them, don’t we? Justice will be done, the rights of God’s chosen ones will be secure. But justice will be done speedily. Speedily?
Speedily for us means right away, doesn’t it? And when things are not done right away, we lose faith, we wonder if God cares; is God listening, can God do anything about it at all?
The poor widow is someone to keep in mind.We have to keep her faith and hope in mind. She believed One more powerful than the unjust judge was on her side.
And God’s way of securing our rights, God’s time, God’s way of having his kingdom come, is not ours. We have to keep praying, keep knocking at the door, keep asking, keep seeking, night and day. Today, more than ever, we need to keep praying. We’ll be heard.
One last thing. “God’s chosen one who call out to him night and day.” Is that a reference to morning and evening prayer? Maybe so.
The Feast of St. Luke is October 18th. If you’re beginning to read the New Testament Luke’s Gospel is a good place to start. His gospel is the longest gospel, followed by the Acts of the Apostles. Together they present a magnificent picture of the life of Jesus followed by the life of his church.
Luke’s gospel provides many of readings for the various liturgical feasts we celebrate yearly in the church, especially the feasts celebrating Jesus’ early life, like those in the Christmas season, for example. We are reading from Luke’s Gospel these days.
Luke takes over into his gospel about 65% of Mark’s Gospel, which he modifies for his own purposes. He shares with Matthew’s Gospel material from another source, and he also offers material not found in the other gospels–the infancy narratives, for example. (Luke 1-2). He must be the companion St.Paul mentions in his letter to Timothy, read in today’s Mass. “Luke is the only one with me.” (2 Tim 4: 10 ff) He’s the narrator of Paul’s missionary journey in Acts.
Like other evangelists, Luke has his own plan. In his commentary on Luke’s gospel, Timothy Johnson speaks of the way Luke’s positive outlook on the world influences his writings:
“Luke-Acts is positive toward the world, not only as God’s creation but also as the arena of history and human activity. It is perhaps the least apocalyptic of the NT writings, and the least sectarian. Not only is Luke relatively unconcerned about the end time, his historical narrative bestows value on time itself. Luke is also generally approving of those outside the Christian movement. Outsiders-not counting the Jewish opponents who are not outsiders at all– are generally regarded as reasonable and open-minded, which is a high compliment paid by apologetic literature.” (The Gospel of Luke, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Md. 1991)
Carry the cross with me each day, Jesus says, and don’t worry or be anxious. Be vigilant and prayerful each day, the Lord will return on the clouds of heaven. No, we don’t know the day or the hour, but we’ll we ready for the last day if we prepare for that day each day. Jesus says we can stand strong and fearless on that day, if we live each day well in the meantime. Be especially mindful of the poor. Luke emphasizes that teaching of Jesus in his writings especially.
Isn’t that good advice for times like ours when enormous problems confront our world and clear solutions and grand designs are nowhere to be found? We can so easily fall into pessimism (a form of spiritual sleep) and lose hope. We can also turn away from the poor.
We can use Luke’s optimism today.
Father,
you chose Luke the evangelist to reveal by preaching and writing
the mystery of your love for the poor.
Unite in one heart and spirit all who glory in your name,
and let all nations come to see your salvation.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
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