Thoughts on confession

 

Incarnational Living

Confession and forgiveness are precisely the disciplines by which spiritualization and carnality can be avoided and true incarnation lived. Through confession, the dark powers are taken out of their carnal isolation, brought into the light, and made visible to the community. Through forgiveness, they are disarmed and dispelled and a new integration between body and spirit is made possible.

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”   - James 5: 16

Thoughts on giving thanks

We hear and say the word “thanks” fairly often, though perhaps not often enough and usually without much thought. Thanksgiving Day is our most popular national holiday, yet many folks do not recognize or acknowledge the religious dimension of that day. Last Sunday’s master-servant parable reminded us that we are God’s servants and have no reason to expect God to thank us for doing what God asks of us. But while God may have no obligation to thank us, we have an obligation to thank God. Today’s Scripture readings can help us to understand better the rich biblical concept of thanksgiving.

 

In the Bible, to give thanks means to state publicly that God is at work. It involves public witness. It could be in response to the creation of the world or, more personally, it could be in response to having been rescued from danger or illness. In this Sunday’s first reading, the healing of Naaman the Syrian from contagious skin disease is a good example of the biblical approach to thanksgiving. So is the Gospel story of the cleansing of the 10 individuals with leprosy. Those with leprosy believed in Jesus’ power to heal, and on their way the 10 found themselves to have been miraculously healed. All’s well that ends well, but not quite! Only one of those healed returns to Jesus to give public witness to God about his healing. 

 

In our lives, public witness doesn’t necessitate posting expressions of gratitude on websites, parish bulletins, or social media. It does mean living our gratitude in such a way that no one can doubt that God is the Giver of all Gifts. It means helping others to see that we and they should never forget the Giver who is behind the gifts.

Fr Frank Reale, SJ

Thoughts on social conventions

 

Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

Luke 10:38–42

Friends, today’s Gospel is the story of Martha and Mary. I’d like to offer a fresh take on this famous little story. One of the principal marks of Jesus’s teaching and ministry is the overturning of social conventions. And one of the most striking and surprising of Jesus’s moves was a radical inclusion of women.    While this typically women’s work was going on, men would sit out in the main room of the residence and talk. If a prominent rabbi or Pharisee were present, the men would sit at his feet and listen to his words.   Now we can see why Mary’s attitude was so offensive to Martha and probably to everyone else in the room. Martha wasn’t simply mad that Mary was giving her more work to do; she was mad that Mary had the gall to assume the stance of a man, to take up her position in the men’s space.   In his response to Martha’s complaint, Jesus signals more than a preference for listening over acting; he invites a woman into full participation in the life of discipleship. “Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on the Good Samaritan

 

Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Luke 10:25–37

Friends, our Gospel today is one of the best known of Jesus’s parables, the story of the Good Samaritan. Every story, parable, illustration, and exhortation is, at the end of the day, a picture of the Lord.   In one of the great windows of Chartres Cathedral, there is an intertwining of two stories: the account of the fall of mankind and the parable of the Good Samaritan. This reflects a connection that was made by the Church Fathers. The Good Samaritan is a symbol of Jesus himself, in his role as Savior of the world.   Now our task is to be other Christs. “Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus says to him, “Go and do likewise.”   We spend our lives now looking for those people stranded by the road, victimized by sin. We don’t walk by, indifferent to them, but rather we do what Jesus did—even for those who are our natural enemies, even for those who frighten us. And we bring the Church’s power to bear, pouring in the oil and wine of compassion, communicating the power of Christ’s cross. Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on life issues

During October, under the patronage of Mary, we are reminded in a particular way of the ongoing challenge of reverencing, respecting and defending life in all stages and faces. Life issues are many, among which are abortion, domestic violence, human trafficking, capital punishment, immigration, homelessness, and proper respect for and care of the elderly.  Another life issue, as Pope Francis often emphasized – and which Pope Leo recently reiterated – is care for the earth.

 

It seems to me that most “social justice” issues are also life issues, since they address the quality of human life both in the present and in the future.  

 

Early October often finds us approaching another set of civil elections. This year, however, is an “off year” in regard to federal elections. That said, the opportunity to exercise responsibility for our society’s well-being is ongoing as we continue to engage in what are generally characterized as political issues. Politics and elections are by definition competitive; sadly, they are also often contentious in a way that calls into question our common commitment to truth, justice, life and the common good.  The U.S. bishops repeatedly have reminded us that we should participate in the political process in a manner that is worthy of our human and Christian dignity.  And, they have emphasized that we should analyze issues for their social and moral dimensions, not just in regard to how they impact self-interest or ideology.

 

It is easy to fall into facile, black-and-white thinking.  It is not so easy to bring reflection to our political stances.   It is even more difficult to do so with that true spiritual freedom which enables us to recognize, and act upon, the moral and ethical importance of our choices. In October, let us pray, through the intercession of Mary, that all of us will be granted the wisdom and freedom we need to engage in political realities.



Fr Frank Reale, SJ

Thoughts on Guardian Angels

 

Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels

Matthew 18:1–5, 10

Friends, today we celebrate the Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels. Well, is it reasonable to believe in angels? Look at the wild variety in the visible universe—the millions of species of animals, the billions of galaxies, the myriad shells that wash up on the seashore, the incalculable number of cells in each human body. Is it likely that, between this staggeringly variegated physical dimension of creation and God, there simply yawns a great ontological abyss? Isn’t it likely to hold that God has manifested at least an equally great creativity in regard to the purely spiritual order?  But why would God send these spiritual messengers to help us? Why wouldn’t he just take care of us himself? Those questions, of course, are born of a frame of mind that sets God and his world in competition. On the Catholic reading, God delights in using secondary causes, so that his creatures can participate in his active providence of the universe. Aquinas says that each of us, due to our changeable and fallible nature, has been assigned a heavenly guide. Once we’re in heaven, we won’t require a guide anymore, and our angel will become our friend.  Bishop Robert Barron

Thoughts on vengeance

 

Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church

Luke 9:51–56

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus rebukes James and John for their desire for vengeance. We are walking with Jesus and his disciples as they make their way to Jerusalem. As they pass through Samaria, they are refused hospitality, for their destination is Jerusalem and this annoys the Samaritans. Bothersome? Stupid? Racist? Sure, all of those things. As a result, James and John (the sons of thunder) cry out: “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Can you hear echoes of this cry up and down the ages? Whenever people have been unjustly treated, excluded, looked down upon, they experience, naturally enough, feelings of hatred and a desire to get back. Correctly enough, they will say that their family or their race or their country was offended, and so they, with justification, react.  But Jesus turns only to rebuke them. Why? Because following him and his way of nonviolence is more important than race or country or ethnic group. Our feelings for him have to go beyond even our justified feelings for these good things. Bishop Robert Barron