October 6^th 2019.  Twenty-seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL   Luke 17, 5-10

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 17, 5-10

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
The Lord replied,
"If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

"Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from ploughing or tending sheep in the field,
'Come here immediately and take your place at table'?
Would he not rather say to him,
'Prepare something for me to eat.
Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished'?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded,
say, 'We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.'"

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

Kieran’s summary . . . The disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith. He replies, “If you had faith as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this great mulberry tree to be uprooted and it would come to pass”. What is Jesus talking about here? How can this be possible? He is not actually talking about the quantity of our faith but the quality of it. Faith cannot be measured in numbers or in grammes because it is not a quantity but a relationship with our heavenly Father. And a relationship is either genuine or it is not. A husband doesn’t just love his wife for nine days out of ten and then on the tenth day act unfaithfully. That would not be an authentic relationship. It is the same with faith. If our faith is genuine, then it must permeate and inform everything we do. If we have genuine faith of this sort (even a mustard seed measure of it!), then it will transform everything we do. The faith is an attitude of trust and abandonment into the arms of our loving Father. A person who has great tribulation in his life, once he lives this attitude of faith, can begin to move mountains. Even “little” people who suffer greatly can uproot mulberry trees and plant them in the sea when they live this attitude of faith. By contrast, others can become completely obstructed by small matters because they lack this relationship of faith. At the first obstacle they go to pieces because they do not live the life of faith. This helps to explain the last portion of Sunday’s Gospel! Jesus tells us that we are unprofitable servants who have done no more than our duty! The life of faith gives us such peace, tranquillity and joy that we do not need to be paid as well! To serve the Lord signifies that we have discovered the fullness of life! When we begin to live the faith, the Lord transforms our existence from within, uprooting trees and moving mountains.

The disciples ask for an increase of faith because Jesus had just told them that they must forgive the person who sins against them repeatedly. This seems impossible for them, so they beg for more faith.

Sunday's Gospel opens with the disciples' request: "Increase our faith!" This request may have many motives, but the context of what happened immediately prior explains its origin: Jesus invited his disciples to forgive the brother who asks forgiveness seven times a day after having repeatedly sinned. Thus we understand why the disciples ask to have more faith. Christ had asked for something from them that seemed impossible. Now, however, he answers their question with equally impossible language: "If you had faith as much as a grain of mustard, you could say to this mulberry tree: ‘Be uprooted and go plant yourself in the sea’, and it would obey you." The mulberry is one of the trees with the most immense roots. Even today, powerful and complicated machinery is required to uproot a mulberry. And what’s more, planting a tree at sea seems absurd. But Jesus tells us that this action would be possible if we had faith as small as a mustard seed, which in the folds of a hand can disappear.

Faith is not a matter of quantity but quality. It is a relationship that must be preserved without deviation. If I am not serving the Lord then I am automatically living in a state of deception

Faith is not a question of quantity, but of quality. It is not a thing or an object, and therefore it cannot be measured in terms of grammes or tonnes. Faith is a relationship, a relationship with God. It involves the self-giving of the Father, who is our authentic Lord and the only one who deserves to be served. The first reading on Sunday is a passage from the prophet Habakkuk which ends with the statement: "He who has not the right mind will fail, while the righteous one by his faith will live.” What does it mean not to have the right mind? Let us ask ourselves: if I do not serve the Lord, who am I serving? Is there a no man's land between faith in God and idolatry? If I stop serving the Lord, do I go into a state of stand-by, or do I automatically begin to slip into deception and self-delusion? If we are have a right mind then we need to persevere in the truth without deviation. If, for example, a man loves his bride, is there a time when he is allowed not to love her? Let's say that he does many deeds of love, but at a given moment he dedicates himself for a while to another woman. Is that authentic love? Faith is a relationship that does not stop, it is a gift that fills our lives in every moment.

If we have faith, then it informs and colours every aspect of our lives. We serve him and he fills our lives with blessings. This is what permits us to uproot mulberries!

This helps us to understand the parable of the useless servant. The Greek term achreios means "without pay" - without profit. It does not mean that the servant is of no use, but only that he does not need to be paid. To serve God is to uproot mulberries, to perceive Him in action, to participate in His Kingdom, to have the strength to forgive seven times a day. And do we want to be paid as well?!!  If we do not work in his vineyard, what nonsense would we devote our existence to? We ought not be afraid of sacrificing ourselves: what we should really fear is not sacrificing ourselves. It is a great grace to serve Him. If we fail to serve him that we would miss out on the blessings that he gives un in recompense - he who fills our lives with mercy, the mercy we can find only in Him. It is not worthwhile to stop serving him, ever. Our reward is faith. The opposite is fear. No thanks!

September 29^th  2019.  Twenty-sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL   Luke 16, 19-31

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 16,19-31

Jesus said to the Pharisees:
"There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen
and dined sumptuously each day.
And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps
that fell from the rich man's table.
Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.
When the poor man died,
he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham.
The rich man also died and was buried,
and from the netherworld, where he was in torment,
he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off
and Lazarus at his side.
And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me.
Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
for I am suffering torment in these flames.'
Abraham replied,
'My child, remember that you received
what was good during your lifetime
while Lazarus likewise received what was bad;
but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.
Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established
to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go
from our side to yours or from your side to ours.'
He said, 'Then I beg you, father,
send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them,
lest they too come to this place of torment.'
But Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.'
He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham,
but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
Then Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'"

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

Kieran’s summary . . . The Gospel on Sunday contains the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. The rich man is so pampered by his own self-indulgence that he does not even notice the plight of the suffering Lazarus. Isn’t this true of our world today? The technological advances of our age has meant that our younger generation has a massive input of images on a scale never seen in the history of humanity. This leads to a form of apathy and passivity. Like the rich man who is blind to the condition of Lazarus, our self-indulgence and constant self-pampering leads us to be blind, stupid and indifferent to what is true and meaningful. The word “imbecile” derives from the term “imbelle” which means “one who cannot fight”. The fact is that our over indulgence dims our senses to such an extent that we become limited in what we perceive and in how we react. Let us open our eyes to this situation! The basic foundation of discernment is to ask what are the consequences of any course of action. The consequence of our preoccupation with our own comfort and wellbeing is that we would fail to recognize the risen Christ if he stood among us, as the parable hints. God sends us crosses, sufferings and inconveniences so that we will open our eyes, begin to truly listen and return to ourselves. He does it so that we will see where we are in danger of ending up, and change course.

The comfort and the self-indulgence of our world can make us blind and deaf to what is true and meaningful

Our age is marked by great technological advances, with undoubted positive consequences, but also with serious human repercussions. Children who grow up attached to the screens of tablets or smartphones suffer - say the studies - the under-development of their own imaginations. Put simply: having such a massive input of images - as has never been the case before in human history - they do not imagine "on their own" but are conditioned by the images they receive. It is an example, among many others, of a form of passivity. This important theme is present in Sunday's Gospel, where there is a rich man, "who wore robes of purple and very fine linen, and dined lavishly every day" without realizing where this series of over-indulgences was taking him. We too, if we become over-satisfied, lose awareness of the consequences: comfort, pleasure and aesthetics can make us blind and deaf to what is really going on around us.

We have become lethargic, passive and foolish as a result of our self-indulgence and constant self-pampering

The story of Lazarus is that of a poor man who lives surrounded by people who do not see him, who do not even notice him. The detail regarding the dogs that go to lick his wounds is very revealing. The rich people are so distracted with their comforts and satisfactions that they have become less human. The dogs surpass them in sensitivity. We find something similar in the first reading of Sunday's liturgy. The passage from Amos speaks of those who are “complacent” in Israel. These people live lives of self-indulgence, but Amos warns them that they will be taken into exile. Once upon a time, in the Italian language, there was an unfortunate phrase which referred to people in an impaired mental condition as a result of war trauma – “fools of war”. Today we have "fools of peace", an army of people, mainly the young and very young, who have become passive and lethargic as a result of constant self-indulgence and excessive wellbeing. The word "imbecile" derives from the Latin term "imbelle", meaning the one who cannot fight.

God allows us to suffer pain and inconvenience so that our eyes will be open and our senses attuned to what is real and important

It is not a matter of re-introducing an absurd form of machismo, but of considering with attention the consequences of my actions. The basic foundation of the art of discernment is the question: if I do, think, or choose this, where will it lead me? If I live a life of complete self-indulgence then the consequence will be that my senses will become so dimmed that I would not recognize the risen Christ even if he were standing before me. "Please send Lazarus to my father's house, because I have five brothers. Admonish them severely, so that they too do not come to this place of torment," pleads the rich man. Abraham replies: "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if one were to rise from the dead". It's a tragic answer: if the senses don't work, they just don't work. Not even if the risen Christ appears. In order for the senses to start working again, they must be used; they must be re-sensitized. God sends us crosses, sufferings and inconveniences so that we will open our eyes, resume listening and return to ourselves. He does it so that we will see where we are in danger of ending up, and change course.