Salt + Light Blog

Today’s Gospel passage (Luke 14:25-33) contains a collection of sayings that are peculiar to Luke. Luke has Jesus speak about the demands of discipleship. He gathers three sayings (26-27, 33) and two parables (28-32).

They focus on the total dedication necessary for disciples of Jesus. No attachment to family (26) or possessions (33) can stand in the way of the total commitment demanded of the disciple. Acceptance of the call to be a disciple demands readiness to accept persecution and suffering (27) and a realistic assessment of the hardships and costs (28-32).

The two parables embedded in today’s Gospel passage say in their own way what Jesus is saying in the preceding verses: Are you sure you wish to follow me? Is the price more than you are willing to pay? The first parable involves building a tower in a vineyard from which the farmer can stand watch against thieves and foraging animals. The second pictures the royal house where great political issues are settled. But rich and poor, royalty and peasants, have essentially the same decision to make when faced with a major expenditure of time, property, and life itself: Is this cost more than I am able or willing to pay? The decision is no different when one is facing the call to discipleship: The enthusiasm for beginning is there, but do I possess the resources to persevere to completion?

Both parables highlight the need to use wisdom in assessing the cost of discipleship. Both the tower builder and the warring king must calculate the costs and study the risks before making a final decision. The disciple must know that following Christ requires an allegiance that will always be the highest priority. To accept the person of Christ is to accept his cross as well.

The source of our happiness

The author of today’s first reading from the book of Wisdom (9:13-18) is not dealing with the age-old distinction between what is of the body and what is of the soul (known often as dualism). The view of human nature in the Hebrew Scriptures is not dualistic, even though it is clearly recognized that the limitations of human nature make it impossible for us to fully comprehend the mysteries of God.

As Christians we need not oppose human progress nor reject comforts and pleasures. The believer must assess these within the delicate balance of wisdom and life. Today’s first reading challenges us: Does our happiness come from the mere acquisition of possessions or from sharing and interacting with God and neighbor?

Read more…

Share

Father Thomas Rosica

Jesus’ most important teaching moments in Luke’s Gospel take place at meals, parties, and celebrations, and we learn that each meal has a far greater significance than simply eating and drinking with others.

Today’s table talk takes place in the context of the journey up to Jerusalem begun at 9:51. Nothing can be more serious for Luke than a dining table. Both the Eucharist and the revelations of the Risen Christ occur there (24:28-32). It was while eating together that Christ gave his disciples the promise of the Holy Spirit and their commission (Acts 1:8), and it was by table fellowship that Jews and Gentiles were able to be the Church (Acts 10:9-16; 11:1-18).

Table fellowship laden with meaning

Today’s banquet scene found only in Luke (14:1; 7-14), provides the opportunity for Jesus’ teachings on humility and presents a setting to display Luke’s interest in Jesus’ attitude toward the rich and the poor. For Judaism, for Jesus and for the early church, table fellowship was laden with very important religious, social and economic meanings.

Chapter 14:1 sets the stage for Verses 7-11. Jesus is at dinner in the home of a Pharisee and, while there, observes the social behavior of both guests and their host. Jesus’ attention to and observation of everyday activity provided him not only insights into the true character of his listeners. but also opportunities to reveal the way life is in the Kingdom of God. The frequent and familiar are not to be overlooked in defining life in God’s presence.

God exalts, not humans

What is the central point of today’s Gospel story? Our human egos are quite clever, and upon hearing that taking a low seat may not only avoid embarrassment but lead to elevation to the head table, may convert the instruction about humility into a new strategy for self-exaltation. Taking the low seat because one is humble is one thing; taking the low seat as a way to move up is another! This entire message can also be ridiculous if there is a mad dash for the lowest place, with ears cocked toward the host, waiting for the call to ascend.

Read more…

Share

Father Thomas Rosica

It’s been 13 years since Mother Teresa suffered a heart attack and died at 87 years old on September 5th, 1997 in Calcutta . August 26th this year would mark her 100th birthday. The day after she died, she was set to lead an interfaith memorial prayer service in Calcutta for her friend, Diana, Princess of Wales, who had been tragically killed in a car accident one week earlier.

How well I remember those days… my own father died on August 27 that year. On the night I returned to Toronto from his funeral, the Princess was killed in the horrible car crash in Paris . One week later, Mother Teresa was called home to God. I commentated her funeral for several national television networks in Canada . The pomp, precision and somber majesty of Princess Diana’s London farewell one week earlier were hardly visible in the chaotic scenes of Mother Teresa’s simple wooden casket riding on a gun carriage through the mobbed and chaotic streets of Calcutta for her State funeral.

Mother Teresa’s life was not a sound byte, but rather a metaphor for selfless devotion and holiness. Her most famous work began in 1950 with the opening of the first Nirmal Hriday (Tender Heart) home for the dying and destitute in Calcutta . Mother’s words remain inscribed on the walls of that home: “Nowadays the most horrible disease is not leprosy or tuberculosis. It is the feeling to be undesirable, rejected, abandoned by all.”

There are critics in the Church, and not a few religious women and men, who say that Mother Teresa personified a “pre-Vatican-Council” view of faith and did not address systemic evils. They criticize her and her followers for their relentless condemnation of abortion. Some have said that in Mother Teresa, there was no element of prophetic criticism in her teachings and her lifestyle. Instead of acting sensibly by applying for government grants to create programs to eliminate poverty, Mother Teresa and her sisters moved into neighborhoods and befriended people. Their houses often become oases of hope and peace, like the ones in Canada , and especially the convent in downtown Toronto . When Mother Teresa speaks of ’sharing poverty,’ she defies the logic of institutions that prefer agendas for the poor, not communion with individual poor people. Agents and instruments of communion are often called irrelevant by the world.

Though she left this world scene thirteen years ago, this tiny nun made the news big time several years ago with the publication of her letters. Many journalists, magazine editors, television newscasters and bloggers got the story all wrong with their sensational headlines: “Mother Teresa’s secret life: crisis and darkness,” or ” Calcutta ’s Saint was an atheist,” or even “Mother and the Absent One.” Some commentators wrote: “She lost her faith and the Church rewards her for it.” These people seem unaware that those who prepared Mother’s Beatification in 2003 cited the letters as proof of her exceptional faith and not the absence of it. Read more…

Share

Father Thomas Rosica

Though today’s Gospel [Luke 13: 22-30] may well be a loose collection of sayings of Jesus, uttered in several different contexts but brought together here under the general heading of “who will be saved”, the overall tone of Jesus’ meaning is clear: the good news is offered “whole and entire” and must be accepted in the same way.  Jesus words follow upon the parables of the kingdom [Luke 13:18-21] and stress that great effort is required for entrance into the kingdom [13:24] and that there is an urgency to accept the present opportunity to enter because the narrow door will not remain open indefinitely [13:25]. Behind the sayings is the rejection of Jesus and his message by his Jewish contemporaries [13:26] whose places at table in the kingdom will be taken by Gentiles from the four corners of the world [13:29]. Those called last (the Gentiles) will precede those to whom the invitation to enter was first extended (the Jews).

Lord, who will be saved?

The question to Jesus really is: “Will only a few be saved?”  Jesus answers by saying that the initiation is open but the way into the kingdom is narrow and demands more than casual interest.  In fact, the “door of opportunity” will not remain forever open.  God’s purpose moves toward the eschaton, and when the door is closed, it is closed.  This door will certainly not be reopened for persons who only claim is that Jesus once visited their towns and villages or preached in their streets or that they once saw Jesus and a crowd or encountered members of his family.  Such appeals are not only futile but also self-incriminating because their opportunities carried obligations.  Added to the pain of sitting before a closed door will be the sight of large numbers who are admitted, not only the expected ones among Israel’s ancient faithful but also the unexpected Gentiles who heard and believed.  It provides Israel and us opportunity to assess where we stand in relation to the Kingdom of God.

What does it mean to be saved?

To be saved as Christians, we must acknowledge Jesus now as master.  From today’s Gospel we learn that Jesus may not recognize everyone who bears the name “Christian”, but he will recognize immediately all those whose lives bear the stamp of “Christian”.  Each of us must re-think whatever notions we have of the kingdom of God, of who will be saved.  Those we think least likely to enter may be the first to do so, and vice-versa. Salvation is a life-long journey and along the way we are found and chosen by God.  On the journey we become friends with God and with one another, and enter more deeply into the holy mystery of God.  Furthermore, the whole transformative journey is made in love.

Read more…

Share

Father Thomas Rosica

It is not often that the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary falls on a Sunday. I would like to offer a few reflections on the historical and pastoral significance of this important feast, and its relevance for our own life. The Assumption of Mary, Mother of the Lord, into heaven is a consoling sign of our hope. In looking to her, carried up amid the rejoicing of angels, human life is opened to the perspective of eternal happiness. Our own death is not the end but rather the entrance into life that knows no death.

Immaculate Conception

For Catholic Christians, the belief in the Assumption of Mary flows from our belief in and understanding of Mary’s Immaculate Conception. We believe that if Mary was preserved from sin by the free gift of God, she would not be bound to experience the consequences of sin and death in the same way that we do. We believe that because of the obedience and fidelity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the end of her earthly life, she was assumed both body and soul into heavenly glory.

History

For several centuries in the early Church, there is no mention by the Church Fathers of the bodily Assumption of Mary. Irenaeus, Jerome, Augustine, Ambrose and the others Church Fathers said nothing about it. Writing in 377 A.D., Church Father Epiphanius states that no one knows Mary’s end.

As early as the 5th century, the feast of the Assumption of Mary was celebrated in Syria. In the 5th and 6th centuries, the Apocryphal Books were testimony of the unwillingness of the Church to accept the fact that the body of the Mother of God should lie in a grave. In the 6th century, the feast of the Assumption was celebrated in Jerusalem and perhaps even in Alexandria.

The first “genuine” written references to the Assumption come from authors who lived in the sixth to the eighth centuries. It is mentioned in the sermons of St. Andrew of Crete, St. John Damascene, St. Modestus of Jerusalem and others. In the West, St. Gregory of Tours mentions it first. St. Gregory lived in the sixth century, while St John Damascene belongs to the eighth century.

In the 9th century, the feast of the Assumption was celebrated in Spain. From the 10th to the 12th centuries, there was no dispute over the celebration of the feast in the Western Church. In the 12th century, the feast of was celebrated in the city of Rome and in France.

From the 13th century to the present, there is certain and undisputed faith in the Assumption of Mary in the universal Church. In 1950, Pope Pius XII taught infallibly (Munificentissimus Deus): “Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.”

Read more…

Share

Father Thomas Rosica

Named after the wisest of all the Israelite kings, Solomon, the book of Wisdom was used as a manual or textbook for young Jews living in a Greek culture from 300 B.C. to 200 A.D. The Jews were awed by the brilliant culture around them, and perhaps feared that their traditional values might be inferior to those of Egyptian society. Wisdom consisted of a series of wise sayings, philosophical and moral discussions, religious apologetics, science, and rhetoric. The authors strove to educate and build up the Jewish faith in a foreign environment.

The final section of the book of Wisdom, from which today’s first reading is drawn [Wisdom 18:6-9] praises God as the liberator of his people. One of the high points of the text glorified God for his great power that destroyed the first born of the Egyptians, yet, at the same time, freed his people. Israel was saved because it had “awaited the salvation of the just” [v 7]. The Egyptians had been destroyed because they did not listen to God; Israel was saved because they listened to God’s word.

Portrait of religious faith

Whenever I have moments of frustration, discouragement or sadness about the state of things in the Church today, I go back and read chapter 11 of the Letter to the Hebrews. This chapter draws upon the people and events of the Old Testament to paint an inspiring portrait of religious faith, firm and unyielding in the face of any obstacles that confront it.

Today’s second reading [Heb 11:1-2, 8-19] is drawn from a chronologically-developed chapter. Hebrews 11:3-7 draws upon the first nine chapters of Genesis [1-9]; chapter 11:8-22, upon the period of the patriarchs; chapter 11:23-31, upon the time of Moses; chapter 11:32-38, upon the history of the judges, the prophets, and the Maccabean martyrs.

Read more…

Share

Father Thomas Rosica

In addition to setting the stage for Luke’s Gospel parable on possessions and hoarding, today’s first reading from Ecclesiastes [1:2; 2:21-23] drives home the fleeting nature of life and the inexorable passage of time with blunt realism: “Vanity of vanities…, vanity of vanities, all is vanity” [Ecc 1:2].  The word “vanity” usually refers to an excessive love of one’s appearance, but in the book of Ecclesiastes it has a different meaning.  The English word means “emptiness” or “nothing”, so a “vanity of vanities” means something like “a complete waste of time.”  The author of Ecclesiastes calls himself “Qoheleth,” which is translated “one who assembles” or “teacher”.  He is cynical about life, having lived a long time and seen the futility of much of his work.  His book ends with a simple truth: the only worthwhile thing about life is the knowledge of God.

A parable on possessions and hoarding

In today’s Gospel, Luke [12:13-21] has joined together sayings contrasting those whose focus and trust in life is on material possessions, symbolized by the rich fool of the parable [vv 16-21], with those who recognize their complete dependence on God [v 21], those whose radical detachment from material possessions symbolizes their heavenly treasure [vv 33-34].

The subject of coveting or hoarding arises because of a request of Jesus by someone in the crowd to intervene in a matter of inheritance. Jesus refuses and turns the conversation into a teaching against materialism. He illustrates this with a story about a prosperous farmer who decides to hoard his excess crops. The rich man decides to build extra barns or grain silos. Jesus seems to be suggesting that the farmer should have shared his extra grain with the poor.

The craving to hoard not only puts goods in the place of God but in an act of total disregard for the needs of others.  The parable is not about the farmer’s mistreatment of workers or any criminal actions on his part.  The farmer is, in the end, careful and conservative.  So if he is not unjust, what is he?  The parable says he is a fool.  He lives completely for himself.  He only talks to himself, plans for himself and congratulates himself.  His sudden death proves him to have lived as a fool.  “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” [9:25]

Read more…

Share

Father Thomas Rosica

The biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, home to Abraham’s nephew, Lot, were full of sin.  Israelite tradition was unanimous in ascribing the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah to the wickedness of these cities, but tradition varied in regard to the nature of this wickedness. In many earlier interpretations, the sin of Sodom was homosexuality [Genesis 19:4-5], also known as sodomy; but according to Isaiah [1:9-10; 3:9], it was a lack of social justice.  Ezekiel [16:46-51] described it as a disregard for the poor, whereas Jeremiah [23:14] saw it as general immorality.  Further studies have revealed that the sin of Sodom was the grievous sin of inhospitality in the biblical world – an assault on weak and helpless visitors who, according to justice and tradition ought to have been protected from danger [Ezekiel 16:49].

Biblical bargaining session

Today’s first reading from Genesis [18:20-32] presents the famous bargaining session between God and Abraham over the destruction of the two cities.  When Abraham heard that God was going to judge the cities where his nephew lived, he began with a general question: Will you destroy the innocent along with the guilty [v 23]?   Abraham appeals to God’s better nature, as one does when one is trying to persuade a powerful person to do the right thing!

God starts at fifty, if there are fifty righteous men, Sodom will not be destroyed, and Abraham gradually brings God down to ten. A subtle difference emerges in the way God speaks of the matter: God says that if a certain number of righteous persons are found in the city, God will not destroy it [vv 28-32]. But the first time God speaks, after Abraham has rested his case on the basis of the righteous fifty, God does not say, “I will not destroy it,” but that “I will spare the whole place for their sake.” [v 26].

This intriguing story of Abraham interceding for Sodom is not really about a numbers game but about the significance of salvation for the righteous in a corrupt community.  Abraham’s fervent intercession points to the central theme of biblical faith: the steadfast love of God that refuses to be frustrated even in the context of immoral societies and cultures and sinful people.  Christian theology teaches us that humanity is saved by the life of one righteous person!

Elements of good negotiation

What are the essential elements of good negotiation?  First, demand or request must be clearly articulated and understood. Second, the logic behind the demand or request must be presented and agreed upon. Third, the person requesting or demanding must persist in the negotiation. What are ultimately required are clarity, logic and persistence.  We cannot give up!

Read more…

Share

Father Thomas Rosica

What does it mean to be hospitable?  Biblical stories extol hospitality as both a duty and a work of mercy.  The desert ‘Bedouin’ hospitality is a necessity for survival; and since this necessity falls upon all alike, any guest is entitled to hospitality from any host.  The guest, once accepted by the host, is sacred, and must be protected from any danger even at the cost of the life of members of the family.

The good host makes a feast for his guest as is never prepared for his own family.  The duty of the host to protect the guest is illustrated by the stories of Lot at Sodom [Genesis 19:1,8] and the man of Gibeah [Judges 19:16-24].  Job boasts of hospitality [Job 31:23].  God is certainly the generous host [Psalms 15:1; 23:5].

Many stories from the Books of Kings speak of hospitality.  Each of the four stories of chapter 4 describes in some way the power of God, through the prophet Elisha, breaking into hopeless situations and shattering them with a word of life.  One of those stories is about a couple from the village of Shunem [just over the hill from the New Testament village of Nain in northern Israel] who provide food and lodging for the prophet Elisha; he in turn promises them a son, even though they had been married for a long time and remained childless.

The couple cares for a stranger who had impressed them by his dedication to God, prayer and social concerns.  What the couple does seems quite simple at first– after all, they seem to be influential people.  Nonetheless, they interrupt their ordinary activities and private lives to care for Elisha, first with food at their table, then with overnight accommodations.  And in their giving to him, they received so much more in return– the promise of new life, despite the bitter years of barrenness.  Their own gift to Elisha was magnified beyond their comprehension.

Abraham and Sarah welcome the world

Today’s first reading from Genesis 18:1-10 presents Abraham as the model as the generous and hospitable host.  In the charming biblical story, Abraham and Sarah welcomed the messengers of God with opened arms at the oaks of Mamre.  Abraham is host, bringing water for the washing of feet and providing the shade of a tree for rest. The meal is a banquet, humorously described as “a little bread”: a bushel of flour, curds, milk, and a choice calf!  Sarah remains in the tent; society’s customs forbid her from mingling with the male guests.  She does the cooking, and nine months later the promise is fulfilled in the birth of her son, Isaac.

During the outdoor meal at the oaks of Mamre, God’s word was shared in a carefully staged play.  Hospitality is an art form that requires careful staging!  The strangers at Mamre (who we know are God and angels) come to dinner to deliver a message: God promises Abraham and Sarah that the barren will rejoice.

Abraham’s hospitality may appear to us to be a bit too lavish and excessive, but we must never forget the demanding tradition of the Middle East from which springs the Christian conviction regarding hospitality: in the guest, Christ is seen.  In our every conversation, he is the silent listener.

Read more…

Share

Father Thomas Rosica

The story of the Good Samaritan in today’s Gospel [Luke 10:25-37] is one of the most treasured parables of the Bible.  During my studies in the Holy Land, no matter how many times I traveled that perilous yet spectacular highway from Jerusalem to Jericho, I always found myself musing on Luke’s provocative story.

Luke’s story is powerful, for it speaks of the power of love that transcends all creeds and cultures and “creates” a neighbor out of a complete stranger.  The parable is personal, for it describes with profound simplicity the birth of a human relationship that has a personal, physical touch, transcending social and cultural taboos, as one person binds the wounds of another.  The parable is a pastoral, for it is filled with the mystery of care and concern that is at the heart of what is best in human beings.  The story is primarily practical, for it urges us to cross all barriers of culture and community and to go and do likewise!

Let us look closely at Luke’s parable.  The legal expert who responds to Jesus’ counter-question is certainly a good and upright man.  The words, “wished to justify himself” may often be understood to mean that the lawyer was looking for some loophole to demonstrate his worthiness.  In fact, the lawyer wishes to be sure that he understands just what “love your neighbor” really implies.  In response to a question from this Jewish legal expert about inheriting eternal life, Jesus illustrates the superiority of love over legalism through the parable.

The priest and Levite [vv 31-32] are religious representatives of Judaism who would have been expected to be models of “neighbor” to the victim they would pass by on the road.  Levites were expected to have a special dedication to the law.  The identity of the “neighbor” requested by the legal expert turns out to be a Samaritan, the enemy of the Jew.  Samaritans were hated by the lawyer’s racial group.  In the end, the lawyer is even unable to say that it was the Samaritan who showed compassion.  He resorts to the description, “The one who treated him with compassion.”

Compassion is not a spectator sport

To show compassion is to suffer with the wounded and the suffering, to share their pain and agony.  Compassion does not leave us indifferent or insensitive to another’s pain but calls for solidarity with the suffering.  This is how Jesus, the Good Samaritan par excellence, showed compassion.  At times we can be like the priest and the scribe who, on seeing the wounded man, passed by on the other side.  We can be silent spectators afraid to involve ourselves and dirty our hands.

Read more…

Share

Father Thomas Rosica