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Daily Scripture

+ 21st Week in Ordinary Time

Every day is a gift and a blessing.

Readings: I Corinthians 1:1-9 Psalm 145:2-7 Matthew 24:42-51

I give thanks to my god always on your account for the grace of God bestowed on you in Christ Jesus, that in him you were enriched in every way, with all discourse and all knowledge, so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gifts as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [I Cor 1:4-5, 7]

My mother used to say that every day is a gift and a blessing—an opportunity for grace indeed, many graces.

I suppose it’s all according to one’s perspective. The greatest challenge in life is to find something to be thankful for every day. This is particularly difficult during stressful times and certainly during illness of one kind or another.

I think I may have shared difference between a hermit and a nightclub performer. The hermit wakes up at dawn and says, “Thank you, God!” The nightclub entertainer wakes up at noon and says, “Good God, morning?”

There is so much going on in the world at large and in our own particular worlds to bring anxiety and stress. It’s hard work to maintain balance. An active spiritual life based on the confidence that nothing can happen today that can defeat us if we are grounded in the belief that God’s presence is abiding but it’s difficult and sometimes terrifying to let go.

I still remember the first time I road my two-wheeler bike without my dad holding on to the seat. We started off—I, confident that he hand was firmly attached to the seat. I had ridden almost a full block before I realized that he had let go and there I was, gliding down the street. It’s that way with God. We just need to remain conscious that God’s ‘hand’ is not a crutch but that God’s grace within us is real.

Some days it seems as if we are starting all over again.

Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time 'c'

Sunday November 4, 2007

No Holds Barred!

Newspapers and TV journals are not known or sought out for their emphasis on good news. In fact, it has been said by more than one journalist that good news simply does not sell. This no doubt accounts for the preponderance of the coverage of bad news by the media which seem to take great delight in featuring the worst sins of humanity. We shrink in horror at photos and video clips of shocking crimes and the sordid details of vile and virulent behavior as if beyond the pale of reality, unworthy of our attention. However the nightly news has become part of the entertainment menu. In fact it is sometimes difficult to know where the news ends and the soap opera begins!

But lest I contribute to the cynicism that exacerbates such negativity, I need to admit that the picture is not all bleak. Nightly reports of heroes and heroines at home and abroad belie the implication that only the negative is newsworthy.

I suppose it is the consequence of personal bias that we tend to see the worst rather than the best that God has placed in others. Just as in the search for precious metal or the hunt for oil, the seeker needs to dig deep beyond the earth’s surface to find the treasure, so it is with the search for the kernel of goodness God has placed in humanity. Nevertheless the tendency remains strong among some to place people of another race or culture or political point of view under the cloud of suspicion as if to suggest that one issue can or should become the sole norm of judgment for a religious system or political party. In the midst of madness we need a dose of sanity—that our God is quite capable of bringing good out of the worst scenario despite the plurality of human opinion to the contrary.

The God depicted in the book of Wisdom this weekend is a God of optimism and compassion who “detests none of the things that he has made, for he would not have made anything if he had hated it… for his immortal spirit is in all things.” It appears that the God depicted in this passage is a ‘pan-en-theist’, i.e., embracing all creation.

God is not blind to the evil into which the human heart can sink nor is God naïve; and God is never conquered by evil. However, God is a realist and exposes the wound only to save the whole person. The biblical scholar, Reginald Fuller has referred to this text as the “first fine pre-Christian exposition of the universality of divine mercy.”

Of course the Gospel “cartoon” about Zacchaeus demonstrates par excellence how the incarnate God searches and seeks out what is lost.

Luke tells us that Jesus was just “passing through” Jericho. Despite the fact that he was indeed an itinerant preacher, he was not on a mission tour when he met Zacchaeus. In fact, Zacchaeus who was not a believer was looking for Jesus out of curiosity. It is not unlikely that he was dissatisfied with his life of avarice and looking for something more than money. Perhaps he was fed up with his terrible but well-deserved reputation and having heard stories about Jesus was at least remotely disposed for the encounter that occurred. At the moment he saw Zacchaeus, Jesus, spontaneously invited himself into Zacchaeus’ life and into the life of his family. Jesus became the seeker. “For the Son-of-man came to seek and save the lost.” The encounter was enough to turn his life around and not only his but that of his entire family. “Today salvation has come to this house.” Our individual conversion always impacts upon the lives of those who surround us. It is never neutral.

It is also worthy of note that Jesus did not put any conditions of his “embrace” of Zacchaeus. I think we can assume confidently that Zacchaeus’ life and the life of his family was never the same after this extraordinary encounter.

How does this image of God in wisdom and Luke’s account of Jesus’ meeting with Zacchaeus play out in the life of the Church today in the face of the absurdity by which we are surrounded? All of us, children of Abraham, are at war with ourselves, resorting to tribal battles that can lead only to further bitterness.

I think we must be anchored in Christ but not in a crusader Christ, the caricature of a warrior god. In the sight of our God, there is no such thing as a “holy war.” All war is unholy. If, in the process of seeking justice, we turn to violence, is it too much to hope that it is only the result of temporary madness against madness rather than the personification of Godly wisdom that leads to peace?

Several years ago, it was popular for children and teens—and some adults as well, to wear a small wrist bracelet of beads on which was printed the phrase “What would Jesus do?” It was a popular expression, perhaps too cute to catch on at a deeper level and often sent a mixed message to the unwitting observer who assumed that the bracelet was more than cosmetic dressing. It brings to mind the man with the bumper sticker “Honk if you love Jesus!” and then screams at the driver behind him who honked at him at the red light to let him know that he loves Jesus!

The great Pope John XXIII whose initiative resulted in one of the most historic councils in the history of the Church wrote in his now famous Journey of the Soul: “Christianity is not the mass of restrictions which the unbeliever imagines. On the contrary, it is peace, joy, love and life, which like the hidden pulse of nature in earthly spring, is ever being renewed. Be watchful and delicate of conscience. Do not walk through time without leaving worthy evidence of y our passage. Be always willing to begin, ready always to rejuvenate yourself spiritually. It is not my way to call attention to the threat of divine punishment. God has called upon us to enlighten conscience, not to confuse or coerce them. God asks us to speak with simplicity, not to complicate matters or to flatter tastes of an audience. God has called upon us to heal our brothers and sisters, not to frighten them! The Church has always opposed error, and often condemned it with the utmost severity…. Our needs are best served by explaining more fully the purpose of its teachings rather than by publishing condemnations.”

Recall that the difference between saints and sinners is that saints are sinners who know they need God; sinners have no need of God.

I think there is enduring wisdom in the words of Pope John XXIII as we continue to struggle with the issues of the day that affect our nation and our Church.

Jesus remains our anchor, no holds barred and is able to bring good out of every scene or scenario and no one is to be excluded from God’s table.