September 1^st  2019.  Twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL   Luke 14:1,7-14

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 14:1,7-14

On a sabbath Jesus went to dine
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees,
and the people there were observing him carefully.
He told a parable to those who had been invited,
noticing how they were choosing the places of honour at the table.
"When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet,
do not recline at table in the place of honour.
A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him,
and the host who invited both of you may approach you and say,
'Give your place to this man,'
and then you would proceed with embarrassment
to take the lowest place.
Rather, when you are invited,
go and take the lowest place
so that when the host comes to you he may say,
'My friend, move up to a higher position.'
Then you will enjoy the esteem of your companions at the table.
For every one who exalts himself will be humbled,
but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
Then he said to the host who invited him,
"When you hold a lunch or a dinner,
do not invite your friends or your brothers
or your relatives or your wealthy neighbours,
in case they may invite you back and you have repayment.
Rather, when you hold a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind;
blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you.
For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

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

Kieran’s summary . . . In the Gospel, Jesus exhorts us not to sit at the places of honour in a banquet because we risk being asked by the host to go to a less prestigious place. What is Jesus doing here? Is he giving rules of etiquette so as to save us from social embarrassment? No! He is not interested in anything so silly. As always, Jesus is saying something much more profound. Each one of us is conditioned to always look for first place. In work, in school, even in our families, we enter into rivalries with others. We react when we are ignored, when we are unobserved, when we are taken for granted. We yearn for notice, recognition, glory. This furious striving to place ourselves ahead of others causes so much tension and anguish in our lives! That is why Jesus encourages us to take the last place. What is the last place? In the Garden of Eden, Adam tried to put himself in first place by ignoring God’s command. But when we put ourselves last, then we allow God to assign a place to us! The place that God assigns to us bestows on us a dignity and freedom that we would never achieve if we follow our own pursuit of “dignity” and “prestige”. Do you want true satisfaction? Do you want a real reward? Then stop seeking yourself and allow God’s providence to take care of you. In the second part of the Gospel, Jesus exhorts us to give to those who have nothing to give us in return. In other words, do not give to the rich and powerful, but to those who are blind, lame and ill. Who is blind lame and ill? The people that I live with! Like me, they have their poverty, their patches of blindness, their slowness. These are the people that I must serve, especially in their negative aspects. In every marriage, sooner or later, you must face up to the fact that your spouse is poor, blind and lame in many respects, as you are yourself! It is at this moment that we must love as God has loved us.

Jesus asks us to take last place. What does he mean? Adam tried to take first place in the Garden of Eden! Taking last place means allowing God to assign a place to us.

The parable that constitutes the first part of this Sunday's Gospel invites us to take "the last place". What place is that? It is the position that we take when we are in a genuine relationship with our heavenly Father. In the garden of Eden, Adam took the first place, trying to take the position of God himself, with disastrous results! Salvation is all about becoming disciples, or being called to follow Jesus. If we follow his guidance, then he leads us to the right place, and this place is the carrying out of our unique mission. We are afraid to follow him because our souls are anxious to maintain themselves in first place! We fear not being important, not being acknowledged or recognized. Why are we so preoccupied with being in first place?  Why are our hearts so clogged with the obsession for honour and recognition?  In truth, we live an existence woven of things that last no more than five minutes!

What kind of satisfaction do you look for in life? What reward do you seek? The position that the Lord gives us confers upon us a dignity, freedom and meaning that we would never discover when we impose our own will on life.

The Lord has called us to something much more important and solid. He has a position to give us, one in which we receive a dignity that makes us free, a dignity that the contempt of others cannot damage. Our mistake is that we try to impose our own meaning on existence instead of allowing ourselves to be led by Providence. When we allow ourselves to be led by Him, we discover a whole new quality of joy, a celebration that will never end and that no one can take away from us. How many Christians in history have tasted this fullness of joy once they stopped trying to choose their own place and allowed themselves instead to be assigned a place by God! This joy is attained through acts of abandonment.

In the second part of the Gospel, Jesus exhorts us to give to those who have nothing to give us in return. In other words, do not give to the rich and powerful, but to those who are blind, lame and ill. Who is blind lame and ill? The people that I live with! Like me, they have their poverty, their patches of blindness, their slowness. These are the people that I must serve, especially in their negative aspects.

Jesus, in the second part of the Gospel, describes the organization of a dinner and a strange list of guests. Friends, family and rich neighbours are not to be included. Instead, invitations are to be sent out to "the poor, the lame and the blind", people who arrive with empty hands, who do not have anything to offer in return. The distinction that Jesus wishes to make is this: Is life about serving or being served? Feeding or being fed? It is not just a matter of choosing strangers to invite, but those who have absolutely nothing to give. That person could also be my brother or someone close to me, someone who is "poor, lame, blind". Every person has his blindness, his poor aspects, his slowness, his distortions.

In every marriage, sooner or later, you must face up to the fact that your spouse is poor, blind and lame in many respects, as you are yourself! It is at this moment that we must love as God has loved us.

In premarital courses, when preparing young people for marriage, it is necessary to train the future spouses in a simple truth: marriage is not a call to be with the other person simply because it is satisfying, intelligent, good or beautiful. True love is something unconditional. Therefore, it doesn’t always have these satisfactions. In fact, in every marriage, sooner or later, you have to come to terms with the fact that the person in front of you is poor, blind and lame in many respects. Just like you! It is at times like this that we all desperately need to be able to love like God, who loved us in times of poverty, in our lameness and when we understood nothing. In fact, none of us is ever "worthy of participating at his table". In summary, there are two opposite ways of living: seeking the best place and doing what benefits us most ... or letting God put us where he wants and live for the benefits that he bestows upon us. We will discover that God is much more generous than the whole world!

August 25^th 2019.  Twenty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL   Luke 13,22-30

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 13:22-30

Jesus passed through towns and villages,
teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.
Someone asked him,
"Lord, will only a few people be saved?"
He answered them,
"Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough.
After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door,
then will you stand outside knocking and saying,
'Lord, open the door for us.'
He will say to you in reply,
'I do not know where you are from.
And you will say,
'We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.'
Then he will say to you,
'I do not know where you are from.
Depart from me, all you evildoers!'
And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth
when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
and all the prophets in the kingdom of God
and you yourselves cast out.
And people will come from the east and the west
and from the north and the south
and will recline at table in the kingdom of God.
For behold, some are last who will be first,
and some are first who will be last."

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

Kieran’s summary . . . In the Gospel, Jesus speaks about the “narrow gate” to salvation. But then he says that people will come from east and west, north and south, to sit at the banquet of the Kingdom. So we are being told that the gate is narrow, yet it is open to everyone! What does this mean? Salvation does not come to us automatically, just by virtue of the fact that we receive the sacraments or live “religious” lives. Entry to the Kingdom requires going through the narrow gate of humility. We must have genuine poverty of Spirit, always considering ourselves unworthy to be in the presence of God. We should always feel surprise that the Lord has invited us, has forgiven us, has united himself to us. But instead there is so much pride, arrogance and self-celebration in us! That is why the gate is narrow and so few enter! Woe to me if I take my salvation for granted. May I always realise that I am poor, insufficient and in danger of falling, someone who is in desperate need of salvation. Thus do I enter the narrow door of the Kingdom.

In the Gospel, Jesus speaks about the “narrow gate” to salvation. But then he says that people will come from east and west, north and south, to sit at the banquet of the Kingdom. So we are being told that the gate is narrow, yet it is open to all. What does this mean?

In the first reading the prophet Isaiah announces that the Lord will gather all peoples to himself. And some of them will becomes priests. Previously in the Old Testament, the pagans, the uncircumcised, were considered absolutely incompatible with the priesthood! With this key, the Church invites us to approach the Gospel reading in which Jesus talks about the “narrow gate” to the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus is responding to the question of how many people will be saved. And, even though Jesus is talking about the narrowness of the gate, the first reading reveals to us that there is something very open about this gate. In fact, Jesus goes on to say that people will come from the east and the west, the north and the south, and will eat at the banquet of the Kingdom. So why does Jesus appear to speak so negatively about those who are actually listening to him at that moment, as if the gate were too narrow for them? He is addressing those who consider themselves to be already “in”, who consider themselves to have merited salvation. Instead, we should always consider ourselves to be strangers who have come from afar, who do not deserve redemption.

Salvation does not come to us automatically, just by virtue of the fact that we receive the sacraments. Entry to the Kingdom requires going through the narrow gate of humility. We must have genuine poverty of Spirit, always considering ourselves unworthy to be in the presence of God. We should always feel surprise that the Lord has invited us, has forgiven us, has united himself to us. But instead there is so much pride, arrogance and self-celebration in us! That is why the gate is narrow and so few enter!

Salvation is not something administered by an office. Even our participation in the sacraments does not guarantee anything. Salvation is reserved for the narrow gate called “humility”, to those who have genuine poverty of spirit. We should always be surprised that the Lord has admitted us, has permitted us to enter. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who are all mentioned in the text, were poor according to human logic. Abraham was unable to have children, and neither Isaac nor Jacob were first-born sons but were still able to enter into the inheritance promised to them. They were elected by surprise, and that is how life is for each of us! Our election is not a right but a work of God, a pure gift. It is a generous action of God, but requires an attitude of humble surprise on our part. Who among us has deserved the limitless mercy of God, the forgiveness of sins, or to be worthy of receiving the body of the Lord? We must always repeat, “I am not worthy to enter into your banquet”. This is the narrow door that we must pass through. And it is a door that admits few and excludes the multitude because there is so much triumphalism in us, pride and self-celebration. This narrow gate of littleness opens to us often. The one who enters the Kingdom is the one who feels that he doesn’t deserve it, yet he knows his own needfulness of salvation.

Woe to me if I take my salvation for granted.

Our participation in the sacraments, our communion with the body of Christ, our listening to his Word – none of these things guarantees us anything unless we have passed through this gate of littleness, our awareness of our own poverty. People will come from east and west, north and south, because we know that we have no other destiny except destruction unless the Lord saves us. Woe to us if we take our salvation for granted. Whenever we pray the liturgy of the hours, we begin with “Oh Lord, come to save me, Oh Lord make haste to help me”. This is not the saying of someone who is sure of himself but rather that of one who knows he is in danger of sinking. We know that we are at risk of falling, and this prompts us to humility, enabling us to cross the threshold of the narrow door to salvation.

August 18^th 2019.  Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL   Luke 12,49-53

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

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

(Check us out on Facebook – Sunday Gospel Reflection)

GOSPEL   Luke 12, 49-53

Jesus said to his disciples:
"I have come to set the earth on fire,
and how I wish it were already blazing!
There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,
and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!
Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.
From now on a household of five will be divided,
three against two and two against three;
a father will be divided against his son
and a son against his father,
a mother against her daughter
and a daughter against her mother,
a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."

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

Kieran’s summary . . . In Sunday’s Gospel passage, Jesus says something surprising. He has come to the world, not to bring peace, but division! Hold on a minute, isn’t Jesus supposed to be the prince of peace? But there are different kinds of peace! There is the peace of Christ, and then there is the peace that comes from avoiding struggle, avoiding problems, avoiding growth; the peace of self-satisfaction and the peace of a well-fed ego. If we think we can enter the Kingdom of Heaven without confronting our ambiguities and our superficiality, then we need to think again! If we believe that we can become children of God while remaining enslaved to the things of this world, then we are sadly mistaken! Jesus comes to light a fire in the world. That fire is his passion in which he is immersed in the non-love and violence of this world. On the cross, he becomes the light of the world, to free us from our darkness and our ambiguities. And he calls us to conform ourselves to him, to battle against our inner contradictions. How can a man love his wife for all of his life if he does not engage in this battle against his own mediocrity and superficiality? How can he be a good father to his children if he does not struggle against his own selfishness? Some gurus claim that inner peace is a good sign, but peace is not always a mark of the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit prompts a holy anxiety within us that prompts us to turn away from ourselves and back to God. How many people have turned back to the Church and the sacraments because of this sacred inner disquiet! Jesus comes to bring fire to our lives, a fire that purifies us and makes us children of his Father. Baptism means “immersion”. We who are baptized are called to be immersed in the Paschal event of Christ’s self-effacing love so that we leave our old lives behind and receive a new kind of life – the life of the child of God.

Jesus comes to bring fire to the world, to purify us, to turn us back to what matters and away from our ambiguities, selfishness, compromises and worldly fixations

"Do you think I came to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but division". These are paradoxical but necessary words. Life is often ambiguous and confused, frequently fixated with what is unworthy, and often inattentive to what is precious. We need to distinguish between what matters and what does not matter. We need a parameter of evaluation. In the Gospel of Jesus, this parameter arrives! "I have come to put fire on the earth, and how much I would like it to be already lit!" Fire is destructive, but it purifies things. In fact, the word "purify" comes from the Greek word for “fire”. "I have a baptism in which I will be baptized, and how distressed I am until it is completed!" "Baptism" in Greek means "immersion". We know what Jesus is talking about. The fire that will be lit is his Passion, when he will be immersed in the darkness of the non-love and violence of this world. He will feel all the anguish of Gethsemane and he will shine on the cross during a midday eclipse, remaining the only light in the world. He does this in order to free us from the ambiguity in which we tend to wallow.

If we are to have the fullness of life, then the substitutes for real love must be rooted out of our lives. Our ambiguities and superficiality must be combatted if we are to be truly free

The fire that Jesus is talking about is his way of giving life, of loving and forgiving that stands in absolute contrast to our mediocrities. Too often, we are content with surrogates of love, with substitutes that are not genuine. Living by grace as children of God brings with it a lucidity, a fire that shows up what is trivial and superficial within us. We need to be engaged in this inner struggle. How can a husband love his wife all his life if he is not constantly engaged in the struggle to be liberated from his ambiguities? How can he be a good father to his children if he doesn't battle within his heart to be ever more free from himself?

Peace is not always a mark of the Holy Spirit. There is also the peace that comes from avoiding problems or from hypocrisy. The Holy Spirit often makes us feel restless in order to lead us to a better place.

There are some popular “masters” of spirituality who say: "If you are at peace then you are doing God's will for sure". What ignorance! This Gospel passage says just the opposite. Peace by itself means nothing. There is the peace of Christ, but there is also that which comes from hypocrisy or through the avoidance of problematic people. Avoiding problems brings peace, but this is not God’s way. It is merely a way of defending one’s own comfort zone. We all tend to seek confirmation whenever we are in the wrong. And somewhere we will find something or someone who will prove us right. And then we're at “peace”. But it is not the peace of Christ! On the contrary, the action of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the one who is on the wrong path is precisely to prompt restlessness. Very often it is a feeling of dissatisfaction with oneself that brings people back to Christ. How many times we meet people who have returned to the Church and to the sacraments because of a holy discomfort they had with the way of life they were conducting.

A holy disquiet prompts us to enter the inner battle that helps us to become children of God

If I am called to follow Christ, this puts me against the popular current of superficiality and worldliness. How could it be otherwise? But we often try to avoid this battle. This Sunday's Gospel calls us to a holy anxiety, an anxiety that does not assuage our consciences if we are in error. A sacred disquiet that makes us grow, that helps us to become children of God rather than slaves of this world.

AUGUST 11^th 2019. NINETEENTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

GOSPEL: Luke 12:32-48

__________________________________________________

(Translation of a homily by Don Fabio Rosini broadcast on Vatican Radio)

(Check us out on Facebook – Sunday Gospel Reflection)

Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel.

GOSPEL                                    Luke 12:32-48

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not be afraid any longer, little flock,
for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. 
Sell your belongings and give alms. 
Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out,
an inexhaustible treasure in heaven
that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. 
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

“Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. 
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. 
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them. 
And should he come in the second or third watch
and find them prepared in this way,
blessed are those servants. 
Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into. 
You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,
the Son of Man will come.”

Then Peter said,
“Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” 
And the Lord replied,
“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward
whom the master will put in charge of his servants
to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? 
Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. 
Truly, I say to you, the master will put the servant
in charge of all his property. 
But if that servant says to himself,
‘My master is delayed in coming,’
and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants,
to eat and drink and get drunk,
then that servant’s master will come
on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour
and will punish the servant severely
and assign him a place with the unfaithful. 
That servant who knew his master’s will
but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will
shall be beaten severely;
and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will
but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating
shall be beaten only lightly. 
Much will be required of the person entrusted with much,
and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . The theme of this Sunday’s Gospel is the eternal significance of each and every human action. Either an act leads me towards paradise or it leads me towards the void. How often we tend to be caught up in the immediate significance of our acts! But an act cannot be understood properly unless we see it from the perspective of its eternal dimension. We spend so much effort on storing up treasures, accumulating possessions, making purses for ourselves that will soon wear out. The Gospel challenges us to create purses for ourselves in heaven, ones that will never disappear. It is the eternal aspect of our actions that gives sense and meaning to our lives. If our existence is just a succession of acts that lead nowhere, then how shallow and empty it is! But if my life is lived in the expectation and hope of liberation by God, of encounter with the master who will return, then how much depth my existence acquires! I cease to go around in circles; I begin to behave as one who comprehends the eternal import of each and every action. Then, like St Francis of Assisi, every difficulty in life becomes a delight because we see in that difficulty the announcement of something greater that is to come.  

The Gospel challenges us to be focussed on that which is to come

The first reading from the Book of Wisdom speaks of the Exodus, an event that had been preannounced to the people of God so that they might have courage when the happenings began to unfold. The Gospel reading, too, speaks of the relationship between the present and the future. Jesus tells us that we can be serene and courageous in the face of our present problems because our Father in heaven has been pleased to grant us the Kingdom. This is the same sort of logic that we find in the Beatitudes – “Blessed are those who are afflicted now for they shall be consoled. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”. The entire Gospel challenges us to be ready for that which is to come: to be ready for the master who will one day return; to be prepared for the prize that awaits in the future, the spouse who is expected to arrive, the reward that is due to us. The beginning of the passage tells us to sell our belongings and give alms, to make purses for ourselves that will not wear out.  There are purses that grow old and those that do not; treasures that fade away and those that remain; possessions that criminals can take from us and those that cannot be stolen.

All my acts can only be understood in the light of their consequences

Every human act has a consequence; in fact an act can only be understood fully in the light of its consequences. How often we tend to be superficially caught up in the present moment and the immediate aspect of our behaviour! We need to be aware that every act leads somewhere. Every act I do is bound up with the reality of what God intends to do with me. If each and every act I do is not directed towards a definite end, then it is a stupid and blind act. Our existence is either a succession of disordered events or it is something that has sense and meaning. If I believe that the events in my life are the result of chance, then life becomes ugly and shallow. Our lives develop depth when they begin to be directed towards a goal, when we begin to expect liberation from God, when we begin to await something wonderful with expectation and hope. Pope Francis often exhorts us not to lose hope. If hope becomes obscured, if I lose sight of the goal of my existence, then everything becomes dry and tasteless. St Francis of Assisi said, “The good that awaits me is so great that every pain has become a delight”. We become cheerful in difficulty when we realize that those difficulties announce something wonderful to come. In the spiritual life, once of the fundamental things is to clarify my ultimate goals. Any act that takes me away from this ultimate goal is useless in itself. In fact it is dehumanising and takes the soul out of what I am doing.

Before doing anything, I should ask myself, “Does this act lead me towards paradise or towards the void?” If it does not lead towards paradise then it is something dehumanising

The Gospel exhorts us to be ready to depart, to be ready for the return of the master, to be attentive to the will of the master. All of this points to a mode of existence that is directed towards a wonderful goal. We are challenged to ask ourselves where we are going. If I continue behaving and living as I am now, where will I end up? What will be the outcome of my behaviour? Am I heading towards heaven or towards the void? Every act I commit is either leading me towards heaven or it is not. It is either directed towards paradise and greatness or it is not. Once there was a lot of emphasis in Christian preaching on death, judgement and salvation. These themes are less common nowadays because they are considered negative, but they are important and can be illuminated in fruitful ways. Everything I am doing must be seen in the light of the fact that the master will one day return and he will ask me what I have been doing, if I have been preparing for his coming. Have I been behaving as one who wishes to enter into his house? Or as someone who belongs outside? Did I act with eternity as my goal? Or with the void as my goal? In this season of summer we can often lose ourselves and follow after things that are empty and vain. But there is another way. If we have extra leisure time on our hands, we can use it to pull ourselves together and redirect our lives. Instead of going around blindly in circles, we can accept the challenge of this Sunday’s Gospel and fix our eyes firmly on our goal, leaving aside everything that is secondary.

August 4th 2019.  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 . . .

(Check us out on Facebook – Sunday Gospel Reflection)

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

Kieran’s 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?” This is one of the principles of discernment of Ignatian spirituality. 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! Love, forgiveness, fidelity. It is attachment to worldly things that alienates us from the fullness of life.

A bystander asks Jesus to talk about things that matter for once – money and inheritance!

Jesus is preaching and a man interrupts him: "Master, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me." Some injustice or other among brothers is at stake here, it seems. Or maybe it is just a request for the property to be shared. However, it is clear that we are talking about a conflict of interests between money and fraternity. How many families quarrel over money problems? It seems likely that the guy who interrupts Jesus is the victim and the other brother is there present in the crowd - otherwise how could Jesus instruct him? In effect this man is saying to Jesus: "Instead of all this strange preaching you do, why don’t you speak about things that count for once! Let's talk about money and justice!” Up to now, Jesus had been telling people not to worry about persecution, not to be concerned about their safety, but to publicly stand by him him whatever the cost, and other odd sayings like this!

Does Jesus tell the man that he is not interested in inheritance questions? Or does he give the ultimate answer to what really matters in property disputes of this kind?

But Jesus replies to the man with a strange question: "O man, who made me judge or mediator over you?" What does the Lord mean? Is he saying, "What do I have to do with these issues? These are not my task.” But the answer of Jesus can also be read in another way. We know from Luke himself - in the Acts of the Apostles, when Paul speaks in Athens (Acts 17.31) - that for the early Christians there was a keen awareness of the importance of the seventh article of the Creed: "He will come to judge the living and the dead." When Jesus asks, “Who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?” the clear answer is: “God the Father”! Jesus was raised from the dead and made Lord and judge of history. In fact, Jesus doesn’t just dismiss the man’s question as irrelevant; he continues to respond to him in the discourse that follows.  What is really important in existence, Jesus is asking? What does life depend on? So he tells the parable of a man who, after an immense harvest, starts to plan everything as if would never die, as if his entire destiny was is in his own hands. But God has other things to say to him: "Fool, this very night your life will be required of you. You didn't take me into account, when you made your calculations. And life and death are in my power.”

The ultimate criterion for action is eternity. How will this decision look from the perspective of eternity? What will it mean on judgment day? Loving my brother, sharing with him, forgiving him for not sharing with me – these are the things that will matter in eternity! All the rest - money, property, inheritance - are rubbish that will pass away.

In the spiritual exercises of Saint Ignatius regarding discernment, the image is used of standing before the Lord on the day of judgment. If I decide on a course of action, how does that course of action place me before God? Will it be something that can bear God’s penetrating and transparent gaze, or will I be ashamed of this choice? The criterion of good decision-making is life, but real life, the eternal variety. And therefore the ultimate parameter of discernment is to ask “How will this thing finally look at the end of time?” The first reading for Sunday is the powerful beginning of the Book of Ecclesiastes. "Vanity of vanities: everything is vanity!" That verse was the cheerful refrain of Saint Philip Neri, who preferred heaven at every turn of life. Everything is vanity. Everything passes. Saint Paul says that only love will endure beyond death (1 Cor 13: 8). Only relationships go beyond the grave. Loving my brother is a matter of eternity, money is not! To divide the inheritance with him, or to forgive him because he did not share it with me,  is a question of eternity. The rest is rubbish. Death will pass and take it away. Then only love will stand.