The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to contemplate our relationships with others for opportunities to heal separation with love and care.
The reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans declares God’s Election of Israel.
* [9:1–5] The apostle speaks in strong terms of the depth of his grief over the unbelief of his own people. He would willingly undergo a curse himself for the sake of their coming to the knowledge of Christ (Rom 9:3; cf. Lv 27:28–29). His love for them derives from God’s continuing choice of them and from the spiritual benefits that God bestows on them and through them on all of humanity (Rom 9:4–5).
* [9:5] Some editors punctuate this verse differently and prefer the translation, “Of whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all.” However, Paul’s point is that God who is over all aimed to use Israel, which had been entrusted with every privilege, in outreach to the entire world through the Messiah. (Romans, CHAPTER 9, n.d.)
Psalm 147 offers praise for God’s Care for Jerusalem.
* [Psalm 147] The hymn is divided into three sections by the calls to praise in Ps 147:1, 7, 12. The first section praises the powerful creator who restores exiled Judah (Ps 147:1–6); the second section, the creator who provides food to animals and human beings; the third and climactic section exhorts the holy city to recognize it has been re-created and made the place of disclosure for God’s word, a word as life-giving as water. (Psalms, PSALM 147 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus Heals the Man with Dropsy on the Sabbath.
* [14:1–6] See note on Lk 13:10–17.
* [14:2] Dropsy: an abnormal swelling of the body because of the retention and accumulation of fluid.
* [14:5] Your son or ox: this is the reading of many of the oldest and most important New Testament manuscripts. Because of the strange collocation of son and ox, some copyists have altered it to “your ass or ox,” on the model of the saying in Lk 13:15. (Luke, CHAPTER 14 | USCCB, n.d.)
Barbara Dilly comments that we are challenged to find the relevance of Paul’s words for one of the highest profile conflicts of the day. The struggle of Israel for peace in its borders is ancient, extending beyond the temporal realms of human political regimes for ages.
In my reflection today, I took a closer look at what Paul is saying in his letter to the Romans in Chapter 9. Paul reminds us that righteousness, or the quality of being right or justifiable, does not come from any laws, especially of the religious sort, but from faith. But now we are back to the question of whose faith? To Christians, Paul says it comes only through faith in the spirit of Jesus. So how does our Christian faith give us any more authority over the matters of others who do not share it? I think our challenge to help bring peace into the world as Christians is how can we enact the spirit of Jesus without imposing it politically or militaristically. To do that, we might first learn to see our conflicts as something other than differences between Jews and Gentiles or between Jews and Palestinians. The great conflict, it seems to me, boils down to a fundamental conflict between sin and faith. I see it as our inability to express our faith in God through peace and love for our neighbors. As all of us pray daily for peace in Israel, I hope we can also contribute to the humanitarian relief for innocent civilians on both sides of the conflict as a demonstration of love for all our neighbors. (Dilly, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “The law does not forbid mercy on the Sabbath,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).
"As they were silent from ill will, Christ refutes their unrelenting shamelessness by the convincing arguments that he uses. 'Whose son of you,' he says, 'or whose ox shall fall into a pit, and he will not immediately draw him out on the sabbath day?' If the law forbids showing mercy on the sabbath, why do you take compassion on that which has fallen into the pit?... The God of all does not cease to be kind. He is good and loving to people."(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 101) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 14:1-6 comments that when we were baptized, Jesus became a guest in our hearts as well—and he will never leave us. Just as he didn’t give up on those dinner guests, he won’t give up on us. He knows the areas in our life where we are still resisting him. He knows about the sins we don’t want to confess and the temptations we have given up fighting. And still he treasures us and wants to heal us, forgive us, and reveal his love to us even more deeply.
So make sure you are setting aside time to be with Jesus. Imagine yourself setting a place for him in your heart. Even if you have your doubts and suspicions, sit down with him and listen to his words of wisdom. If it was possible for the people at that dinner party to change, it is certainly possible for you—and Jesus knows it! A life of holiness is within your grasp, and it all begins with spending time with the Lord. Do it today. Don’t just read the words of this meditation and then move on. Linger with Jesus and listen for the message he has just for you.
“Lord, I welcome you into my heart. Help me to hear your voice today.” (Meditation on Luke 14:1-6, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler notes the tension Paul expresses between his desire that the people of his Jewish heritage accept Jesus and their failure to live up to the special gifts given by God. His oath to give up his salvation for them is self sacrifice at the highest level. Friar Jude notes how Jesus' dismissal of the Pharisees approach to doing good on the Sabbath creates more opposition for Him.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, finds clear and unambiguous respect for creation in both Jesus and his own Franciscan tradition.
Jesus himself commonly points to things like the red sky, a hen, lilies, the fig tree, a donkey caught in a pit, the birds of the air, the grass in the field, the temple animals that he released from their cages, and on and on. He was clearly looking at the seemingly “nonreligious” world, ordinary things all around him, and appeared to do most of his teaching outside. Francis said, “Wherever we are or wherever we travel, we have a cell with us. Brother Body is our cell, and the soul is the hermit who remains inside the cell to pray to God…. If the soul does not remain in quiet and solitude in its cell, a cell made by hands does little good to a religious.” [1]
Both Jesus and Francis knew that everything created was a message about the nature of God. Nature was not empty of divinity. Seeing nature as secular or merely functional created much of the loneliness and seeming meaninglessness in our contemporary worldview. (Rohr, 2023)
We are invited to contemplate our spiritual heritage and seek the guidance of the Spirit to the healing elements that to which we have connection.
References
Dilly, B. (n.d.). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved November 3, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/110323.html
Luke, CHAPTER 14 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved November 3, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/14?1
Meditation on Luke 14:1-6. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved November 3, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/11/03/820083/
Psalms, PSALM 147 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved November 3, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/147?12
Rohr, R. (2023, November 3). Bringing the Outside In — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved November 3, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/bringing-the-outside-in/
Romans, CHAPTER 9. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved November 3, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/romans/9?1
Schwager, D. (n.d.). They Were Watching Jesus. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved November 3, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=nov3
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