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Today we have a recurring guest blogger: Fr. Arthur F. Rojas, administrator of PRESENTATION OF THE B.V.M CHURCH, PORT EWEN AND SACRED HEART CHURCH, ESOPUS. For more information on this parish, check out their website at Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary & Sacred Heart Churches - Port Ewen - Esopus, NY (presentationsacredheart.org)
Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time | USCCB
XXXIII Sunday in Ordinary Time
by Rev. Fr. Arthur F. Rojas © All Rights Reserved © Nov. 11, 2022
Although I rarely refer to Protestant theologians in my homilies or in my writings, considering the readings today in the Ordinary Form, I must rate as wise the advice from Karl Barth, the Swiss Calvinist theologian, to young theologians in 1963, “to take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both.” (Barth in Retirement, May 31, 1963, Time magazine, www.content.time.com, accessed November 11, 2022) In response to comments or questions to why I refer frequently to current events in my homilies and writings, this advice from Dr. Barth coheres in principle with the exhortations of Old Testament prophets, the evaluation of Our Lord Jesus of events of His time and as to the future (read anew today’s Gospel in Lk 21:5-19), the application of St. Paul and other writers of certain letters in the New Testament, and statements from Popes and local bishops on facing the challenges and exploiting the opportunities over 2,000 years as committed Christians towards personal holiness, the evangelization and care of our neighbor, and the defense of Gospel values. Indeed, the Second Vatican Council exhorts all the Christian faithful, not clerics only, to read “the signs of the times,” per one of its 16 documents, namely Gaudium et Spes, which provided a framework to the Church’s response to problems affecting the modern world. (Gaudium et Spes, article 4, a.k.a. the Pastoral Constitution of the Church, Second Vatican Council, 1965, www.vatican.va)
In other words, the true relevance of the Gospel and Catholic principles is neither derived from nor demonstrated by following the Zeitgeist, which is a term imported from German for the spirit of the age. The enduring value of what God has revealed to us in Sacred Scripture and the Apostolic Tradition is demonstrated through prayer, study, and lived example founded on over 2,000 years of what we have prayed and believed to help men and women to apply God’s teachings, plans, and design of creation to become holy themselves today where we are, to help others to choose, love, and serve what is good, true, and beautiful today where they are, and to pass on these values and the examples of those who have lived these values heroically (“saints”) to our children and youth to become holy wherever they will go in the future. At least from time to time, and I propose – more frequently - in these challenging days, the words and deeds of your clerics and others who cooperate in Christian formation (parents, godparents, elders, catechists, etc.) must speak to these times and their challenges and opportunities for us as committed Christians, to our beloved children and youth, and to all people of good will. That will make our Catholic faith very much tied to everyday reality as well as towards eternity because our faithful application of Gospel values to the challenges and opportunities of today will require you and me to change how we live, to change how we make or rate our choices and options, and how to provide the light and love of truth to those around us. Perhaps following the Holy Spirit instead of the spirit of the age may make our Catholic identity too relevant for our comfort or to those around us. However, the conclusion of today’s Gospel (Lk 21:20) gives us Christ’s response for your sake and mine, “By your perseverance you will secure your lives,” as regarding salvation and eternal life.
If we read today’s news in light of the Good News and if we live on Earth conscious that how we live (or how we fail to live) our Christianity in daily life is showing God whether or not we really want to be with Him forever (reread Mal 3:19-20a, our first reading), then at the end of time (your time and mine, also known as “death”, and of all time, also known as the Second Coming of Christ), then may we follow and foster good example (2 Thess 3:7-12 from the second reading) to prepare for Christ’s appointment with us and our loved ones and to prepare the world for the coming one day of the full Kingdom of God.
From Arlene B. Muller
ReplyDeleteYES, as Catholic Christians we are called to live "in the world but not of it." In His priestly prayer in the Gospel of St. John on the night before He died, Our LORD said "I do not ask You to take them out of the world but to keep them from the evil one." So we live with the tension of living in a complex world with many problems & challenges, a world that often looks for solutions contrary to GOD'S law & will, & striving to live according to the GOSPEL & the teaching of the Catholic Church & ti be good witnesses, first by the example of our lives and then by our words.
Now more than ever we need to look to GOD'S Word and the teaching of the Catholic Church & seek to promote the LORD'S Kingdom on earth in a world & even a country, the USA where Christianity used to be more dominant, in which many have turned to alternative agendas. We need to do whatever we can to promote the sanctity of human life from the womb through natural death & help women in crisis pregnancies to choose life & continue that help after birth as well. (Thank the LORD for several pro-life organizations that do this & need & deserve our support more than ever).
We need to deal with the complex issue of immigration & work out some way we can protect the lives, health & safety of law abiding citizens, legal immigrants, undocumented immigrants, refugees & migrants from those who seek to do harm while extending Christian hospitality of "welcoming the stranger" in obedience to the GOSPEL & reconcile & balance both needs for the well-being of all concerned.
In all the issues facing us we need to find a way to put the best for all concerned as our priority & be willing to extend our hands across political aisles & transcend the hatred & division & "seek first the Kingdom of GOD & His righteousness" & turn to Him for wisdom.
Now more than ever we need our Church leaders to seek & then speak GOD's wisdom & not to be afraid to exercise Church discipline where necessary, especially when leaders who claim to be Catholic act in strong & defiant opposition to GOD'S truth at every turn.
We need to discern, with the help of the Holy Spirit working in our lives & especially in guiding our Church leaders, where we can & should compromise in order to find workable solutions and at the same time never compromise the truth of the GOSPEL & the revelation of GOD in Scripture & the established teaching of the Church.