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.
Ignatius, bishop of the large early Christian center of Antioch, was put to death in the third century in the Colosseum in Rome during the reign of Trajan. His death by wild animals is vividly portrayed in the picture (above) in the church of San Stefano Rotondo in Rome. We celebrate his feast October 17th..
On the way to Rome, Ignatius wrote seven letters to important Christian churches. The letters show him as a skillful teacher and writer; he must have been an eloquent preacher.
In his letter to the Christians at Ephesus, however, you sense his days for words are coming to an end. He’s entering the silence of death where words are not important, Ignatius writes– faith and “ being faithful to the end,” are what count:
“It is better to remain silent and to be than to talk and not be. Teaching is good if the teacher also acts. One teacher ‘spoke, and it was done,’ yet what he did in silence was worthy of the Father. He who has the word of Jesus can also listen to his silence…”
What does Ignatius mean? The Word of God silent? True, in his early years at Nazareth, Jesus is silent. Before his baptism in the Jordan by John he’s silent, until the voice of the Father says, “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.”
Then his public ministry began, yet many didn’t hear him at all. Finally, when he’s arrested and taken to the cross to die, the evangelists say Jesus was silent.
Silence is part of facing the mystery of God. Here and now, some things can’t be known or explained. Like terrorism, natural disasters, the suffering of children. Why? God is silent. Again, Ignatius:
“He who has the word of Jesus can truly listen also to his silence.”
Martyrs like Ignatius made early Christians aware of what it meant to follow Jesus. It meant following Jesus into the silence of his death and his promise of resurrection. Some, however, were not so brave. As religious persecutions increased, many Christians abandoned their faith rather than face death. All they could see was this world.
The martyr became a significant figure in Christianity, a faithful follower of Jesus, an example for Christians to see further than this life. That’s why martyrs are so frequent in our calendar.
The martyr was also a powerful advocate for the mercy of God, who could turn our fear of death into hope. In the pictures of above, powerful lions tear into the saint, but his face is not turned to them, but to the One who promises life “I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.”
Who are the Romans Paul writes to in his letter to the church in Rome? Historians say Jews were the predominant group that first embraced Christianity in Rome, but there were not many Jewish converts at first. A substantial population of Jews at the time lived in Trastevere, across the Tiber River. Claudius had to expel some of them from the city around the year 47 because of violent disturbances in the Trastevere synagogues over Christ. It’s unlikely there was a large number of converts to Christianity from Judaism when Paul wrote his letter.
Many Jews in Rome, faithful to Judaism, would strongly question Paul’s argument that the law was a failure.
Not many Romans, Gentiles, embraced the gospel early on either. I doubt the majority of the Romans would agree with Paul that the Roman gods had failed. Rome was a powerful, successful empire in Paul’s day. I doubt many thought too much about its flaws.
The Christian community made up of Jews and Gentiles was not large, if my reading of Paul’s time is accurate. The Christians of Rome were fervent, but few.
In his letter, Paul pictures sin as a cosmic reality, but cosmic sin is not always easy to see. It was not easy to see in Paul’s day, nor is it easy to see in our day. We identify sin with personal sin, murder, theft, cheating, adultery. Paul is aware of personal sin, yet his focus is on cosmic sin. Harder to see who’s responsible for cosmic sin. Who’s responsible for the sin in wars, armament races, manipulation of world markets, plundering the environment?
The Letter to the Romans has a large place in the Sunday and weekday readings of our lectionary. It can be difficult to read, but we need Paul’s larger picture, which calls for a larger hope. Until the final coming of Jesus, we must live in the world pictured by the apostle.
We thank God for his grace of forgiveness and his promise of new life.
We read this week and for the next 4 weeks from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans, Paul’s most important letter. The letter isn’t easy to follow, but that shouldn’t stop us from reflecting on it. Paul preaches a gospel that reveals the power of God, and it’s meant for everyone, Jews and Greeks alike. “ There is no partiality with God.”
Paul describes the failure of the Gentiles who were able to know God through creation:
“Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made.” (Romans 1:16-25)
Jews and Gentiles alike were given the light of creation:
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day pours out the word to day, and night to night imparts knowledge.” (Psalm 19)
Like the Jews blind to the Law, the Gentiles failed to see God’s wisdom revealed in creation. Both fell into the darkness of a sinful world.
Both are saved by a righteous God, a God whose love is revealed in righting what’s wrong, the wrong found in a sinful world.
Paul describes a sinful world held in the grip of cosmic sin, which is like cancer that spreads beyond human control. Only God can break its hold. We cannot save ourselves or the world we live in. God’s power alone can save us and our world, even as God asks us to share in his saving work.
What is cosmic sin in today’s world? It’s racism that denies all are equal before God, consumerism that looks for heaven in things and human experiences, market capitalism that pursues economic goals unmindful of the poor. Cosmic sin is war multiplying worldwide; it’s an arms race ending in destruction instead of security; it’s the plundering of creation.
The righteous God rights the sinful world through Jesus Christ, who brings forgiveness and is a sign of God’s patience.
October 15th is the feast of Teresa of Avila, one of three women “doctors of the church.”. On the 500th anniversary of her birth, Pope Francis described her as “primarily a teacher of prayer. The discovery of Christ’s humanity was central to her experience.”
The aim of prayer for Teresa was not to bring inner balance or get your blood pressure down– goals some see for meditation today.“ For Teresa prayer opens new horizons; it’s a call to a great undertaking, to see the world with the eyes of Christ, to seek what He seeks and to love what He loves. We should listen to her.
Far from taking us away from the world and retreating into ourselves, prayer calls us to go beyond ourselves.
Teresa knew what living day by day means. She lived day by day herself. How did she do it? By daily prayer, by following Jesus Christ daily, by looking for the daily bread God gives us, by doing God’s will.
Saint Teresa, wise woman you are, be with us these days. Make them days of blessing!
Here’s a prayer found in her prayerbook, which she must have said everyday.
Let nothing disturb you, nothing frighten you. All things are passing, God is unchanging. Patience wins everything. Who has God lacks nothing. God alone suffices.
Follow Jesus Christ, Teresa says:
“Unlike our friends in the world,Jesus will never abandon us when we are troubled or distressed. Blessed is the one who truly loves him and always keeps him near. Look at the glorious Saint Paul: it seems that no other name fell from his lips than that of Jesus, because the name of Jesus was fixed and embedded in his heart.
Once I had come to understand this truth, I carefully considered the lives of some of the saints, the great contemplatives, and found that they took no other path: Francis, Anthony of Padua, Bernard, Catherine of Siena. A person must walk along this path in freedom, placing himself in God’s hands. If God should desire to raise us to the position of one who is an intimate and shares his secrets, we ought to accept this gladly.
Whenever we think of Christ we should recall the love that led him to bestow on us so many graces and favours, and also the great love God showed in giving us in Christ a pledge of his love; for love calls for love in return. Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to rouse ourselves to love him. For if at some time the Lord should grant us the grace of impressing his love on our hearts, all will become easy for us and we shall accomplish great things quickly and without effort.”
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