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Daily Scripture

+ 20th Week in Ordinary Time

I’ll do it myself.

Readings: Ezekiel 34:1-11 Psalm 23:1-6 Matthew 20:1-16

Therefore, shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: because my shepherds did not look after my sheep, but pastured themselves and did not pasture my sheep, I will claim my sheep from them and put a stop to their shepherding my sheep. I will save my sheep, that they may no longer be food for their mouths. [Ezekiel 34:10]

There is much talk about a vocation shortage—fewer young men entering the seminary and fewer still persevering to ordination. Not withstanding some notable exceptions this has resulted in the lowering of standards for ordination. Moreover, priests and candidates for the priesthood are being ‘imported’ from other countries whose needs are as urgent as ours.

The prevailing accent seems to be on the need to have a sufficient number of priests to ‘say Mass’ and provide for the sacramental needs of the faithful. But surely in the light of the Second Vatican Council, priests need to be more than presiders at Mass and providers of the sacraments, as important as are these roles.

The earliest experience of the Church can be instructive in this regard. The notion of presbyter provided the early church with presiders for worship and leaders for base communities. Celibacy was not an issue and there was no clerical caste. The gifts of the faithful were recognized in such a manner that men and women, married and single fulfilled the spiritual needs of the community including the sacramental needs.

Notwithstanding the inadequacy of the notion of shepherding people (sheeple?) the need remains for qualified men and women to minister to the needs of the community.

Ezekiel warned the priests and assured the people of Israel that God would find away to pasture his people.

Ezekiel’s words need to be taken to heart again and in fact we already see that God is indeed providing a way through the action of the Holy Spirit in the lives of men and women, married and single, who are tending to the needs of the faithful.

Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time 'C'

Saturday November 17, 2007

Life has eternal consequences

Several years ago a colleague of mine in a presentation to our diocesan lay ministers and prospective deacon candidates unpacked what he referred to as a “survival kit” for Catholics.

The first item that he pulled out of his bag was a Bible. He said to them: “Don’t just read this book but get to know its author real well. It’s full of survival stories for people who are serious about life on this earth and intent of life in the hereafter.”

Some people read the Bible and come to some rather bizarre conclusions. Many of us study the Bible with the aid of a commentator or commentary, which is always preferred but I wonder how well we know the ‘author’ of the Bible. I sometimes have the feeling that even some commentators have not spent much time with the author.

The Scriptures contain many survival stories and what we might call survival prophecies. Malachi “the realist” is author of one of the survival prophecies. His name means messenger. It was his task to describe what the “Day of the Lord” might be like for the just as well as for the unjust. It was his contention that the behavior of believers has everlasting consequences. The day of the Lord’s coming was a euphemism for the end times for all or the end of life for the individual.

The implications of this list are clearly reflected in the New Testament, especially in Matthew, Chapter 26, in which the measure of final judgement is the manner in which we have treated our neighbor. Jesus insisted that the love of God and love of neighbor cannot be separated.

Luke’s Gospel connects many of the apocalyptic stories bouncing around Jewish communities at the time of Jesus and shortly thereafter. Luke combined these stories with the sayings of Jesus and created his own survival stories, an example of which we have just heard.

The temple at the time of Jesus was one of the wonders of the world—a spectacular achievement. Josephus the Jewish historian described it in these words: “…lacking nothing that could astound either mind or eye. For, being covered on all sides with massive plates of gold, the sun shone upon it with a radiance so fiery that people straining to look at it were compelled to avert their eyes, as from the rays of the sun.” It was almost as if it mirrored the face of God. Like the Titanic, the ship that “not even God could sink,” there was nothing or no one who could destroy the temple.

It was against this background that Jesus’ words are quoted by Luke in today’s gospel passage. It doesn’t take much to appreciate the listener’s shock at Jesus’ prediction. Of course, when Luke wrote these words, the temple had already been destroyed in a savage attack by Rome. It is said that well over a hundred thousand people were slaughtered in the attack.

Luke was making the point that the dominion of God could not be destroyed because God’s dominion was not confined to the temple. It was to be found in the incarnate presence of God in Jesus. “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” He was referring of course to the temple of his body, not the temple of gold and stone. The people did not understand this “reality check” voiced by Jesus.

Those who live in the dominion of God must be prepared to forsake all earthly power and surrender to the power of God. This of course is an overstatement of a point to make the point. Our final destiny will not be determined on the beauty of the “temple” but on the beauty of the living temples not made of stone. St. Paul calls the “Church” the “Body of Christ” made not from brick and mortar but from living stones. We are temples of the Holy Spirit.

In our wildest imagination, who would have thought that the World Trade Towers could crumble on September 11, 2001? It surely was not the work of God any more than the destruction of Jerusalem was the will of God. God is not a savage warrior but a saving redeemer who builds up what the nations destroy.

Nations still bear arms “for the sake of the Gospel” and I suppose our present warfare can only be justified as blind madness in the face of absolute madness. War is the ultimate denial of the realities that sow the seeds of hatred and our young pay the price.

November signals the beginning of the end of the Liturgical year. Advent signals the beginning of a new year of grace. We are challenged to re-think our membership in the dominion of God and re-commit ourselves not to the building of an earthly kingdom but to a building not made of stones by human hands; to a community made of human hearts by God. It’s a costly investment of time and energy but one that has everlasting consequences.

As we continue to struggle with the Gospel of peace, we pray that the God of peace will prevail in the hearts of all people and that the teaching of Jesus will dominate our pursuit of justice.

Those who walk with Christ may lose their lives but they can never lose their soul.