Communion of Saints and Sinners

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to recognize that our human community, consisting of both law abiding and needy, are beloved children of God. 

Community of God's People

The Reading from the Book of Sirach defines sacrifice pleasing and acceptable to God.

* [35:1–26] Keeping the commandments of the law and avoiding injustice constitute sacrifice pleasing and acceptable to God (vv. 1–5). Offerings also should be made to him, cheerfully and generously; these he repays sevenfold (vv. 6–13). Extortion from widows and orphans is injustice, and God will hear their cries (vv. 14–22a). Punishing the proud and the merciless and coming to the aid of the distressed, he requites everyone according to their deeds (vv. 22b–26). (Sirach, CHAPTER 35 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 34 declares God will give them protection.

* [Psalm 34] A thanksgiving in acrostic form, each line beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In this Psalm one letter is missing and two are in reverse order. The psalmist, fresh from the experience of being rescued (Ps 34:5, 7), can teach the “poor,” those who are defenseless, to trust in God alone (Ps 34:4, 12). God will make them powerful (Ps 34:5–11) and give them protection (Ps 34:12–22). (Psalms, PSALM 34 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Reading from the Second Letter to Timothy comments on the Reward for Fidelity

* [4:14–18] Alexander: an opponent of Paul’s preaching (2 Tm 4:14–15), perhaps the one who is mentioned in 1 Tm 1:20. Despite Paul’s abandonment by his friends in the province of Asia (cf. 2 Tm 1:15–16), the divine assistance brought this first trial to a successful issue, even to the point of making the gospel message known to those who participated in or witnessed the trial (2 Tm 4:16–17). (2 Timothy, CHAPTER 4|USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus presents the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.

* [18:1–14] The particularly Lucan material in the travel narrative concludes with two parables on prayer. The first (Lk 18:1–8) teaches the disciples the need of persistent prayer so that they not fall victims to apostasy (Lk 18:8). The second (Lk 18:9–14) condemns the self-righteous, critical attitude of the Pharisee and teaches that the fundamental attitude of the Christian disciple must be the recognition of sinfulness and complete dependence on God’s graciousness. The second parable recalls the story of the pardoning of the sinful woman (Lk 7:36–50) where a similar contrast is presented between the critical attitude of the Pharisee Simon and the love shown by the pardoned sinner. (Luke, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB, n.d.)

Rev. Larry Gillick, SJ, working with an “AI” theme, comments that Artificial Intimacy with God and with others begins with not really being present, being really there.

Actual Intimacy depends on firstly being intimate with ourselves. I ask myself sincere questions about how I am doing, feeling, and thinking. This is definitely not exalting myself, but waiting humbly for my true answers. Intimacy begins with self-honesty and acceptance, and that is not always “fun”. The first man in today’s parable was honest about his external, but not in touch with his internal. The sinner was quite honest about both his interior and how he had been living externally.

When starting my own morning-prayer time, I do ask myself if I am here yet. I have my mug of tea set, but often I am not set, not available for encountering myself, my truth, in the presence of the All-loving Infinite Love Who waits for me to catch up with my reality. God never waits; even my waking up to my truth is God’s Active Intensity. To be honest, sometimes I do not get there, not present, not really awake. God is Always Intimate and Actively involved. (Gillick, 2025)

Don Schwager quotes “The medicine of repentance,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"How useful and necessary a medicine is repentance! People who remember that they are only human will readily understand this. It is written, 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble' (1 Peter 5:5, James 4:6, Job 22:29, Proverbs 3:34). The Pharisee was not rejoicing so much in his own clean bill of health as in comparing it with the diseases of others. He came to the doctor. It would have been more worthwhile to inform him by confession of the things that were wrong with himself instead of keeping his wounds secret and having the nerve to crow over the scars of others. It is not surprising that the tax collector went away cured, since he had not been ashamed of showing where he felt pain." (excerpt from Sermon 351.1) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18 comments that when a Pharisee and a tax collector come to the Temple to pray, the Pharisee seems to think he can sway the Lord’s opinion of him with his long list of accomplishments. But it doesn’t work. Neither his status nor his résumé qualifies him for special favors. The one who “went home justified,” the one who received God’s grace, was the tax collector, who approached God with humility and lowliness (Luke 18:14). He knew that he couldn’t earn God’s approval, so he admitted his need and pleaded for mercy.

The Lord knows no favorites. That’s a truth that you can hold onto today. But you can also hold onto the truth that you are a beloved child of God. Your position before him is secure. There’s nothing you can do to make him love you more. There’s nothing you have done that will make him love you less. So just come to him, trusting in his mercy, and let him love you—completely—for who you are!

“Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me so fully and unreservedly!” (Meditation on Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that the Sirach reading was written only in Greek therefore it is not in the Jewish or Protestant Canon. God shows justice to everyone and reaches out to those who need Him. The Second Letter to Timothy, likely written in the name of Paul, compares the situation of Paul to a libation poured on ground as a sign of giving completely to God even as he was facing martyrdom and knowing it will serve the spreading of the Gospel. Luke presents the Parable of Pharisee and the Publican tax collector. The text contrasts the self praise of a truly good Pharisee and a  man admitting his brokenness. It is not true conversion to be superior to others. Luke reaches out to the anawim, those society puts down. Friar Jude notes they recognize their need for Jesus and turn to Him.

Fr. Mike Schmitz discusses the story of Jeremiah and the Ark of the Covenant, offering insight on where it was hidden and how that affected the people of God. He also looks ahead to the rest of 2 Maccabees and poses a question for all of us: What will the people who love us  remember about us? Today’s readings are 2 Maccabees 2, Sirach 42-44, and Proverbs 24:8-9.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, reflects on our universal participation in life and the connectedness to which Christ invites us. We are all partners with both the living and the dead, walking alongside countless ancestors and descendants who were wounded and longed for healing. This idea, “the communion of saints,” became the last phrase added to the Apostles’ Creed centuries later, almost as if it took us a while to recognize its importance. Someday, maybe we will have the courage to add “the communion of sinners,” too. The body of Christ is one great and shared sadness and one continuous joy, and we are saved just by remaining connected to it. 

Since the Enlightenment, however, we have been trained to believe that we each can “do it my way,” like Frank Sinatra’s song, instead of participating in everybody else’s great parade. As I often say, if we do not mythologize our pain, all we can do is pathologize it. We Westerners have lost the ability to frame the significance of our own little lives. I suspect that those who grew up with the richness of the myths and sacred stories of Ulysses and Athena or the Corn Mothers or Kali may have found meaning and consolation for their pain more readily than many of us do today. They knew they weren’t alone on the journey, while we no longer believe or live as if we are an inherent part of a much bigger story. We believe ourselves separate from the cosmic dance that created Greek comedy and tragedy and led the Pueblo peoples of the Southwest to dance and carve kachinas as a way of marking human events or emotions. Helping people see that they are cooperating members of a performance that is already showing—and will keep showing—is surely why so many of the religions of Indigenous people were, at their heart, ancestor worship.  

We are invited to realize I am not the first nor the last to feel this suffering. I can now choose to be a weak but willing member of the whole communion of saints! Surely such solidarity is our salvation, rather than private purity or personal wholeness. Paul called it living “en Cristo,” a phrase that he used multiple times to name the shape and coherence of our collective participation. (Rohr, n.d.)

We rely on inspiration of the Spirit to live out our Baptismal Anointing as priest, prophet and leader for all people in humble service to our universal need for God.

References

Gillick, L. (2025, October 26). Daily Reflection October 26, 2025 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved October 26, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-october-26-2025 

Luke, CHAPTER 18 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 26, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/18?9 

Meditation on Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved October 26, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/10/26/1414780/ 

Psalms, PSALM 34 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 26, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/34?2 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC.org. Retrieved October 26, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-continuous-body-of-christ/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). God, Be Merciful to Me a Sinner! Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved October 26, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Sirach, CHAPTER 35 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 26, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/sirach/35?12 

2 Timothy, CHAPTER 4|USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Reflections. Retrieved October 26, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2timothy/4?6 

Hope and Healing

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today encourage us to continue to seek the healing help of God for long term divisions with friends, family, and our community.

Waters of Life

The reading from the Prophet Ezekiel is a vision of Water Flowing from the Temple.

* [47:1–12] The life and refreshment produced wherever the Temple stream flows evoke the order and abundance of paradise (cf. Gn 1:20–22; 2:10–14; Ps 46:5) and represent the coming transformation Ezekiel envisions for the exiles and their land. Water signifies great blessings and evidence of the Lord’s presence (cf. Jl 2:14).

* [47:8] The sea: the Dead Sea, in which nothing can live. This vision of the Temple stream which transforms places of death into places of life is similar in purpose to the oracle of dry bones in 37:1–14: it offers the exiles hope for the future. (Ezekiel, CHAPTER 47 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 46 praises God’s Defence of His City and People.

* [Psalm 46] A song of confidence in God’s protection of Zion with close parallels to Ps 48. The dominant note in Ps 46 is sounded by the refrain, The LORD of hosts is with us (Ps 46:8, 12). The first strophe (Ps 46:2–4) sings of the security of God’s presence even in utter chaos; the second (Ps 46:5–8), of divine protection of the city from its enemies; the third (Ps 46:9–11), of God’s imposition of imperial peace. (Psalms, PSALM 46 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of John, Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

* [5:3] The Caesarean and Western recensions, followed by the Vulgate, add “waiting for the movement of the water.” Apparently an intermittent spring in the pool bubbled up occasionally (see Jn 5:7). This turbulence was believed to cure.

* [5:4] Toward the end of the second century in the West and among the fourth-century Greek Fathers, an additional verse was known: “For [from time to time] an angel of the Lord used to come down into the pool; and the water was stirred up, so the first one to get in [after the stirring of the water] was healed of whatever disease afflicted him.” The angel was a popular explanation of the turbulence and the healing powers attributed to it. This verse is missing from all early Greek manuscripts and the earliest versions, including the original Vulgate. Its vocabulary is markedly non-Johannine.

* [5:14] While the cure of the paralytic in Mk 2:1–12 is associated with the forgiveness of sins, Jesus never drew a one-to-one connection between sin and suffering (cf. Jn 9:3; Lk 12:1–5), as did Ez 18:20. (John, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB, n.d.)

Steve Scholer consults AI for a definition of the individual aspects of spiritual wellness.

The spiritual wellness we seek is so important to our overall well-being and contributes to our improved mental health, stress management, and resilience. It is a personal and unique journey that is cultivated through our continued self-reflection, prayer and meaningful connections.

But like the man at the pool, we often have shallow reasons for not fully committing to improving our relationship with God. Instead, we fixate on obstacles to our wellness that often seem insurmountable.

Jesus had a simple directive to the man at the well, one that pushed him past his roadblock: "Rise, take up your mat, and walk."
As we continue in the second half of our Lenten journey, let us reflect on those powerful words of Jesus. Perhaps in doing so, we will realize that there are no impediments to our spiritual wellness. No magical waters we need to step into. Jesus is simply telling us to, “Rise, take up your mat and walk.” (Scholer, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Christ our physician,” by Augustine of Hippo, 430-543 A.D.

"Our wound is serious, but the Physician is all-powerful. Does it seem to you so small a mercy that, while you were living in evil and sinning, He did not take away your life, but brought you to belief and forgave your sins? What I suffer is serious, but I trust the Almighty. I would despair of my mortal wound if I had not found so great a Physician." (excerpt from Sermon 352,3)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12 comments on the wonderful promise this vision must have been for the Jews who had been exiled to Babylon: God was going to restore the Temple and bring them back home!

Today, take heart from Ezekiel’s vision. Trust that as you faithfully journey with the Lord, he will bring you to a place where you “shall bear fresh fruit”—because your nourishment is from him (Ezekiel 47:12)!

“Jesus, stay by my side as I journey through Lent! Help me to trust in your promise of refreshment and restoration. ” (Meditation on Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the vision of Ezekiel of the reconstruction of the Temple as a source of life from his place as an exile in Babylon. Archaeologists have located a five portico pool in Jerusalem that is located next to a shrine to the pagan god of healing. Friar Jude notes that we sometimes have fear to “move on” and, like the Pharisees, delay our compassion and help by “administrative rules”.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces religion scholar Diana Butler Bass who ponders the crowd’s outrage after Jesus’ first sermon in Nazareth (Luke 4:18–30)—and the courage required to resist it. Butler Bass asks “What do you do when the mob turns ugly? When widows and lepers, when LGBTQ people and immigrants, are afraid and treated cruelly—and when a brave prophet calls out the self-righteous? What do you do when there’s a lynch mob or a cross-burning?”

It was frightening for them; it must have been hard to go against their family, friends, and neighbors. As they followed the mob to the bluff, they must have worried that if they spoke up they could be thrown off, too. But instead of submitting to the tyranny of the “all,” maybe they formed a little alternative community in solidarity with each other. When Jesus was herded to the cliff, perhaps it was they who saw an opening—made an opening—and helped him escape. He passed through the midst of them and went on his way. 

That is, indeed, a miracle. The bystanders find the courage to do something. 

If Jesus needed that, so do we…. We must form squads of love and make a path through together … no matter how fearsome the mob. 

And that’s the overlooked miracle of Luke 4: Only a community—even one that goes unnoticed in the crowd—the band that refuses to join the rabble—can keep us from going completely over the edge. (Rohr, n.d.)

We consider the importance of hope that is rooted in our experience of the love of God that our efforts, aided by the Spirit, will bring truth, compassion, and love to our daily journey. 

References

Ezekiel, CHAPTER 47 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved April 1, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ezekiel/47?1 

John, CHAPTER 5 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved April 1, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/5?1 

Meditation on Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/04/01/1238651/ 

Psalms, PSALM 46 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved April 1, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/46?2 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Not Joining the Crowd. CAC Daily Meditations. Retrieved April 25, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/not-joining-the-crowd/ 

Scholer, S. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved April 1, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/040125.html 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Walk and Sin No More. Daily Scripture net. Retrieved April 1, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=apr1