July 31st 2022.  Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL   Luke 12,13-21

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

 

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .

 

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GOSPEL   Luke 12,13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,

“Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” 

He replied to him,

“Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” 

Then he said to the crowd,

“Take care to guard against all greed,

for though one may be rich,

one’s life does not consist of possessions.”

Then he told them a parable. 

“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. 

He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,

for I do not have space to store my harvest?’

And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:

I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. 

There I shall store all my grain and other goods

and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,

you have so many good things stored up for many years,

rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’

But God said to him,

‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;

and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’

Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves

but are not rich in what matters to God.”

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

 

SUMMARY

In the Gospel, a man asks Jesus to sort out an inheritance dispute with a family member. Jesus replies, “Who appointed me as your judge?” It might seem like Jesus is saying, “Don't bother me with matters such as these!” But in reality, the answer to the question, “Who appointed me as your judge?” is “God the Father!” All disputes over property, all concerns about material things, must be looked at from the perspective of God the Father. The Father appointed Jesus as judge and Lord of history. The crucial criterion of decision-making is: “How will this decision look on judgement day?” In fact, Jesus then goes on to tell a parable which serves to emphasize this very point. A man has an immense harvest and begins to plan the rest of his life as if his destiny were in his own hands. But he failed to take God into account, and died that very night. The ultimate criterion for action is God! How will this decision look from the perspective of eternity? What will it mean on judgement day? When the man in the crowd asks, “Tell my brother to give me half of the property”, Jesus in truth is replying to him, “What is more important to you, the property or your brother? Loving your brother, sharing with him, forgiving him for not sharing with you – these are the things that will matter in eternity! All the rest - money, property, inheritance - are so much rubbish that will pass away”. Now, if we live this life of detachment from the world, trusting in God as our first priority, does that mean that we live as aliens in this world? No! It is when we detach ourselves from property that we align ourselves with the things that really matter! The relationship with my brothers and sisters is more important than any material inheritance.

 

1. Does Jesus abdicate responsibility and refuse to get involved in the dispute between the brothers over the inheritance? No, Jesus is the judge of all things and wishes to address this question of greed on a much deeper level.

This Sunday's liturgy opens with the proclamation at the beginning of the Book of Ecclesiastes which says "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity". All is “vapour” according to the Hebrew text, everything falls apart, only lasts a short time. The risk that we all have is to live and to go after vain things that have no consistency, have no duration. All the hardships of humanity can result in nothing, in disappointment. It is very important to consider the danger we all run of being obsessed with small things and never making the leap of quality to more significant things, those that last, those that are worth living. This is counterbalanced by the Gospel of Luke, which in its twelfth chapter tells of a man who interrupts Jesus while he is speaking. Jesus is preaching, and this man tells him what he ought to be  talking about, that is, instead of continuing with his message, Jesus should tell his brother to share the inheritance with him. Jesus replies: "Who appointed me judge and mediator over you?" This text is often read as a denial of responsibility on the part of Jesus, as if he is saying, "What do I have to do with your affairs?" But the fact is that the Lord Jesus IS judge and mediator over us! Surely, what Jesus intends to do here is not to abdicate responsibility as a judge but to take right judgement all the way to the end. Jesus is really saying, “Be careful and keep away from ALL greed”. There is the greed of the man who does not share his wealth with his brother, and there is also the greed of someone who denounces his brother in front of everyone. He has so much love for money that he is willing to publicly shame his brother.

 

2. Jesus calls us to enrich ourselves in the sight of God, not in material things.

The problem is that these two men have the same problem: one does not share the money with the other, the other denounces his brother because of the money. They both have the same mentality. Material goods are more important than the fraternal relationship. How many divisions there are in families for reasons of money! How often it is decided that it is more important to pursue economic justice than to safeguard brotherly love! Unfortunately, there is no family that is not touched by this sort of division. At this point, Jesus gives the example of a man who has a huge harvest and what does he do? He demolishes his warehouses, builds larger ones where he will collect all the grain and its goods, and then, only afterwards “‘My soul, you have many goods available for many years, rest, eat and drink and enjoy’. But God said to him, ‘Fool, this very night your life will be demanded of you. And what you have prepared, whose will it be? So it is for those who accumulate treasures for themselves and are not rich in what matters to God.’" This man tries to accumulate material things and does not enrich himself before God. Jesus does not invite us to be without anything, but to enter into the true sense of things. To enrich ourselves before God, to know that our true wealth is in heaven, our true treasure, our eternal destiny, our eternity, our greatness. To enrich oneself before God means to become rich according to things that have value in the sight of God.

 

3. If material things are more important to me than my relationships with others, then my life is small and petty.

There are those moments in our existence when God asks us to account for ourselves. What sort of life do you have? Even those around us can evaluate and measure the quality of our lives at any moment. I had a problem, and I saw that you weren't there, that you weren't available for me in my problem. Life often asks us, "Who are you?" Who are you when confronted by the facts? Life questions us at times in a very serious way. Becoming rich before God entails making yourself rich with something that has stability, that has authenticity, that is not “vapour”, as we saw in the first reading. It is about living for something worthwhile. What does this Sunday’s liturgy invite us to? To focus on what really matters, what truly remains when all else disappears. When life is questioned, what remains of our life, what stands, what is truly valuable. One day, our time will arrive and we will ask ourselves, “But what kind of life did we lead, was it worth it, did it have substance?” And we usually end up wondering if anyone else is happy on account of us. This is the real question we ask ourselves. Is there is anyone who is happy because of something we have done? This is true riches, riches in the sight of God. A man had a great harvest and did not think about loving others through that harvest. Instead, he thought about accumulating it, owning it, having it and then enjoying it. This is a mediocre vision of existence that is absolutely not up to our great dignity as children of God. Returning to the case of the two brothers, the question that this passage asks us about the vanity of life is, “What is more important, to possess the inheritance or to have a brother? The quality of our life is revealed by the answer that we give. If the inheritance is more important, our life is really small. The possession of a brother is more important than any material gain. Earning a brother (as we read in another passage of the Gospel) means regaining communion with a brother. This is more important than all the money in this world.

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July 24 2022 - Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

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July 17th 2022.  Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL   Luke 10:38-42

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

 

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .

 

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GOSPEL   Luke 10:38-42

Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
"Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me."
The Lord said to her in reply,
"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her."

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

​

 SUMMARY

In the first reading on Sunday, Abraham generously receives three guests. But they end up doing much more for him than he does for them. They bless him with fruitfulness. In the Gospel, we have a similar story of a guest who offers much more than he can receive. Marta and Mary welcome Jesus in their house. Marta is frantically busy doing things for Jesus, while Mary sits still and receives what Jesus has to offer. Marta complains that Mary is doing nothing. She does not comprehend that her guest has much more to offer her than she can offer him. The problem with Marta is not that she serves. The problem is that she has made her own activity the primary thing. It is all about what she is doing. In saying to Jesus, “Tell my sister to help me”, she is really saying, “I am not so interested in what you have to say, Jesus. What is important here is my work, and everyone should be helping me”. Mary, by contrast, remains still and receives every word that comes from Jesus. In the spiritual life, there are different levels of reception of the Lord, as this story illustrates. Marta and Mary both receive Jesus into their home, but Mary goes to the next level, the level that is most difficult for all of us! And this is to welcome Jesus for who he is, and not according to our own personal schemes!

1. In the spiritual life, we must receive the Lord into our lives. But there are different levels of reception, as Marta and Mary demonstrate.

In the Gospel reading for Sunday, Marta hosts the Lord Jesus, an event that is anything but trivial. In the various stages of spiritual life, the phase of acceptance/reception is decisive. The Lord - paraphrasing the Apocalypse - enters our existence by knocking on our door - and it is a question of letting him enter. By doing so, the relationship with Him becomes a true relationship and one becomes intimate with him. Marta does this and it is no little thing. But once the door is open to the Lord Jesus, there is a further leap in quality to be made, and many find this next step very difficult. Often the most gifted people are the ones who find it most challenging. What is this next step? To not only to welcome the Lord, but to welcome him for who he is and not according to our schemes. This issue is perfectly illustrated by our Gospel reading for Sunday.

 

2. Abraham shows hospitality and receives in return a much greater gift from his three guests. Marta, too, has a guest who can give her more than she can offer him. But she is too busy to appreciate what he can offer! Mary, by contrast, remains still and receives every word that Jesus has to say.

Marta welcomes Jesus. She is a capable woman who knows how to manage and organise. The Master has arrived, and everyone is talking about him, and we are in a Jewish village, where hospitality is sacred. The first reading on Sunday prepares the theme with the story of the generous welcome that Abraham offers to three men. A nomad like Abraham knows that welcoming or not welcoming a traveller could be a matter of life or death. But to Abraham - as to Marta - something happens that goes beyond the usual scheme of receiving a guest: those who arrive have more to offer than the host! Abraham prepares everything for these three pilgrims, but they in turn will change his life, leaving him the fruitfulness he longed for. Marta, for her part, is frantically doing all that she is able for her guest. She is anxious and becomes aggressive with her sister who does not help her. And just what is Mary doing? She remains still, intent on receiving what this pilgrim has to give her. For Mary, no word of this Master should be lost.

 

3. Marta is preoccupied with her own activity. She does not realise that someone has entered her house who can do infinitely more for her than she can do for him. If our lives are to be of heaven, then we must receive from Him who has come down from heaven. And then, when I see what He is doing for me, I will serve others with joy, not with bitterness, checking to see if they are working as hard as me!

For Marta her action is the central thing, what she produces. What she does not comprehend is that today, in her house, an Other has entered, someone who is completely different. He has little to receive and an awful lot to give! In fact, he wishes to give her "the best part" that no one can ever take away. Serving is important, but it is a consequence of our relationship with God; it is not the starting point. We are never the ones to love first; we do not start from ourselves but from Him. If we give what we are able to give, however good we are, it will always be something that comes to an end, something that will be taken away, sooner or later. To enter into an existence that is related to Heaven, that smacks of eternity, we must receive it from the One who comes from the Father. Only He knows how to give what will not be taken from me in joy and in pain, in abundance and poverty, in sickness or in rejection. Only He can give me that which no thief will be able to steal from me and which will be more important than everything else. When I discover what the Lord does for me, what I do for others will seems little in comparison and I will do it with joy. It won’t occur to me to check to see if my sister is doing less or more than me. I will have better things to think about.

​

July 10th 2022.  Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL   Luke 10:25-37

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

 

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .

 

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GOSPEL   Luke 10:25-37

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said,
"Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Jesus said to him, "What is written in the law?
How do you read it?" He said in reply,
"You shall love the Lord, your God,
with all your heart, with all your being,
with all your strength, and with all your mind,
and your neighbour as yourself."
He replied to him, "You have answered correctly;
do this and you will live."

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus,
"And who is my neighbour?"
Jesus replied, "A man fell victim to robbers
as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road,
but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise a Levite came to the place,
and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveller who came upon him
was moved with compassion at the sight.
He approached the victim,
poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them.
Then he lifted him up on his own animal,
took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day he took out two silver coins
and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction,
'Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you,
I shall repay you on my way back.'
Which of these three, in your opinion,
was neighbour to the robbers' victim?"
He answered, "The one who treated him with mercy."
Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

 

SUMMARY

Sunday’s Gospel is that of the Good Samaritan. According to the parable, the priest and Levite walk past the wounded man. It is not that they were lazy or just didn’t bother: rather, the Law prohibited them from coming into contact with blood of any sort. Such contact would have excluded them from participation in the cult of the Temple. We see here that a preoccupation with keeping the law can be like a cage that prevents us from acting with love. Moreover, the law is incapable of saving anyone. All the law can do is show us where we have gone wrong. It is like a blood test. It can tell us what is lacking but it cannot solve the problem. The law does not give us the power to overcome sin or heal the wounded. Then the Samaritan comes along. He is willing to make himself impure in order to care for the wounded man. He represents Christ who made himself like us so that he could care for us. Christ transcends the law with love. Love, in fact, is the fulfilment of the law. The Samaritan cures the wounded man with wine and oil, the same wine and oil that the Church will use in the sacraments for the healing of humanity. He takes the man to an inn where he is cared for. This inn is a symbol of the Church which cares for wounded men and women. The Church does not focus on personal purity to the exclusion of everything else. Rather, as the body of Christ, the body of the Good Samaritan, it ministers to the wounded with the treasures that the Samaritan has left it, the wine and oil of the sacraments. All of us are called to imitate Christ and live in this beautiful life-giving way.

 

1. It was not that the priest and the Levite didn’t bother to reach out to the wounded man; rather, the religious laws forbade them from becoming involved with such a situation

It is important not to read the parable of the good Samaritan in sentimental terms. A man is robbed and beaten on the way to Jericho. As he lies half dead on the road, a passing priest sees him but goes on without stopping to help him. A Levite also passes by and does the same thing. We feel disgust at these attitudes, but why have these two consecrated people refused to help this poor man? It is instructive to note that for priests and Levites it was absolutely forbidden to touch blood. For Judaism, life resides in blood and bloodshed represents death. The Law states that a consecrated person of God must have nothing to do with death and blood. The priest and the Levite were bound to their obligations before the law. If they had touched that man, they would not have been permitted to celebrate the cult unless they had completed a complicated process of purification rites. By touching the man, they would have become incompatible with the Temple and its sacrifices. This is a point worth noting: the religious laws prevented these two men from rescuing the poor man.

 

2. The half-dead man represents fallen humanity. The Law (represented by the priest and the Levite) cannot save this man. All the Law can do is show us where we have transgressed. It does not have the power to save us.

But who is this half-dead man? The Fathers of the Church underline the fact that this individual was coming from Jerusalem - the holy city - to Jericho, the city destroyed and cursed by Joshua and rebuilt at the cost of human sacrifices (as told by 1 Kings 16,34) . These two cities are the symbols of heaven and hell. The half-dead man represents humanity that has lost paradise because of sin and who is walking towards the underworld; on the way he is destroyed by the enemies of human nature. The Law, based as it is on rules, cannot save him; all it can do is see him and recognize his plight. All the Law can do is issue a diagnosis. It can say "What you did is wrong", but it cannot save anyone. The Law does not forgive, it just defines and describes. Ironically, Jesus is telling this parable to a lawyer who is ready to quibble and seeks to justify himself.

 

3. The Samaritan represents Jesus. He transcends every law and makes himself “impure” in order to take care of us. He tends the sick man with wine and oil, the same wine and oil that the Church will use in the sacraments for the healing of humanity. The inn represents the Church which cares for the wounded men and women of every generation.

Then a Samaritan enters the picture. The Samaritans, for the Jews, were heretics who had distorted the law. It takes a Samaritan to save the half-dead man. He is already an outsider, and he is willing to make himself impure to take care of him. To heal humanity we must obey the rule that transcends every law: love. Love is the full fulfillment of the law, as Saint Paul says. In fact, the rules that are followed to make us feel "right" can become cages that prevent us from loving. The Samaritan does not care about the sacrifices and rituals to be carried out in the Temple, but he has wine and oil to offer this sufferer, the same wine and oil that the Church will use in the sacraments. We need an inn where this Samaritan can bring the wounded men and women of each generation. This inn – the Church - is the Christian community to which Christ, pure for the impure, entrusts this wounded humanity so that it can be taken care of. In the parable, the Good Samaritan says, “Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.” How many broken people, drawn by the Lord’s providence, come to find life in the deposit of treasures entrusted to the Church by Christ. Thus, these people are enabled to re-begin their journey towards the Holy City filled with authentic life. Our cult is no longer focussed on personal purity but on compassion, to be the body of Christ, to be this Good Samaritan who is not afraid to dirty his hands. The Lord calls us to live according to this saving action, this compassion, this beauty.

July 3rd 2022.  Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL   Luke 10:1-9

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

 

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .

 

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GOSPEL   Luke 10:1-9

At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others
whom he sent ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place he intended to visit. 
He said to them,
"The harvest is abundant but the labourers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out labourers for his harvest. 
Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. 
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way. 
Into whatever house you enter, first say,
'Peace to this household.'
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you. 
Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,
for the labourer deserves his payment. 
Do not move about from one house to another. 
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you,
cure the sick in it and say to them,
'The kingdom of God is at hand for you.'"

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

 

SUMMARY

The Gospel recounts how Jesus sent out the disciples in pairs on their mission. Our mission originates in Christ, not in ourselves! So much of what we do comes from our own ideas, projects and instincts. But only that which comes from our relationship with Christ will have eternal value! And our mission is not an individualistic one. We must work in communion with God and others. Autonomy is a form of self-deception. We need to be encouraged, helped and critiqued by others. The devil specializes in creating division between us and God and between us and others. When we are in communion with God and others we can strike at the origin of evil, which works only to divide. If our mission has its root in Christ, then all material and technical resources become secondary. There is no need for a bag or sandals, as the passage tells us. To be a good parent means simply to be a good parent. We are inclined to think that good parenting requires in the first place providing food, money and other resources. But what is really required in having our mission rooted in Christ. Everything else is secondary. And once we are rooted in Christ, then we will have peace, as the passage tells us. Jesus’ exhortation that we not “salute others along the way” is a reminder that our Christian vocation must be the central focus of our lives. How often we lose ourselves in secondary things and neglect the primary thing that God has placed in front of us! If I am called to marriage, then the good of my spouse must be my primary focus, instead of losing myself in secondary things.

 

1. Our mission originates in Christ, not in ourselves! So much of what we do comes from our own ideas, projects and instincts. But only that which comes from our relationship with Christ will have eternal value!

Sunday’s Gospel passage tells about the sending out of the disciples by Jesus. The mission is intrinsic to the life of every baptized person and this text is actually for all Christians. It is Jesus who designates the disciples and then sends them. Mission has its source in Christ, not in us. Much of what we do originates in our own projects or in our personal instincts. But only that which derives from our relationship with Christ will have eternal value. We should be very wary of doing things that do not issue from our relationship with Christ. It is important to ask ourselves the simple question: "Is what I am doing coming from God, or is it just coming from me?" A healthy doubt of this sort can trigger genuine growth. We slowly gain the capacity to distinguish, to develop an adult sense of awareness.

 

2. We must work in communion with God and others. Autonomy is a form of self-deception. We need to be encouraged, helped and critiqued by others. The devil specializes in creating division between us and God and between us and others. When we are in communion with God and others we can strike at the origin of evil, which works only to divide.

Jesus sends the disciples out in pairs. Christian life does not admit of individualism. We must go out at least in pairs and the main reason for this is communion. Working as part of a team means avoiding the self-deception of autonomy. It also permits us to be encouraged, helped, limited and critiqued by someone else. This working in communion gives the disciples power over unclean spirits. In fact, the Holy Spirit creates communion, while the devil (dia-ballo in Greek means "to go against") is the one who destroys it. Whoever is in communion has power over the one who seeks to destroy our relationship with God and with others. The mission of the Church, therefore, is a frontal attack on the origin of evil, which seeks to foment separation from God and a consequent separation from others.

 

3. If our mission has its root in Christ, then all material and technical resources become secondary. There is no need for a bag or sandals, as the passage tells us. To be a good parent means simply to be a good parent. We are inclined to think that good parenting requires in the first place providing food, money and other resources. But what is really required in having our mission rooted in Christ. Everything else is secondary.

If our Christian mission has an authentic root in Christ, then all material, technical and worldly resources become secondary. There is no need for a bag or sandals. This instruction might seem surprising! Often in pastoral projects, the first thing to think about is resources. This is a worldly mentality. To be a good father or a good mother, the essential thing is . . . to be a good father or a good mother! Money and resources are not the essential thing. Money ought to be used and procured according to love, while so many parents have fallen into the deception that once they have provided money, bread and good clothes, the rest matters little. In the same way, to exercise the priestly ministry well, one must simply be a good priest. The structures and techniques that complete good parenting or priestly ministry are consequences, not premises. Jesus still tells his friends to stay in the house that will welcome them without looking for anything else; this means avoiding transitory or fleeting relationships. Sometimes we jump from one relationship to another without ever really entering into authentic communication with people. In a word: the style of the Christian mission is simply love, which is born of God and lives in communion.

 

4. Jesus reminds us that our Christian vocation must be the central focus of our lives. How often we lose ourselves in secondary things and neglect the primary thing that God has placed in front of us!

One detail of the text is a little surprising. The missionary disciples are told not to salute anyone on the road. Why not? This is not an exhortation to refrain from being affable with others. Rather, it has to do with the focus one must have when doing the work of the Lord. Greetings in the Eastern culture tended to be very long and elaborate. Jesus is asking us here to be concentrated in what we do. When we seek to follow the will of God, it is important that we not become dispersed in other matters. This is a very important theme nowadays. We are a generation of multi-taskers, speaking to our children while we continue to work on the computer or send messages on social media.  The Lord asks us to resolutely fix our attention on our final goal. How many people lose their way, distracted by the same old things, accumulating a constellation of experiences, but end up building nothing with their lives. In life, it is essential that we follow the path that the Lord indicates for us. He who is called to matrimony must concentrate on what marriage requires, giving what is best to his spouse, not distracting himself with secondary things. How often we lose ourselves in the secondary things and neglect that which is primary, that which is at the heart of our own Christian calling.