Reality and Repentance

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, the Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi, challenge us to openness to the prompting of the Spirit that invites us to a deeper relationship with Christ and the people and places we encounter on our journey.

Reflection on our Way

In the reading from the Book of Job, The Lord Answers Job

* [38:1] Now the Lord enters the debate and addresses two discourses (chaps. 38–39 and 40–41) to Job, speaking of divine wisdom and power. Such things are altogether beyond the capacity of Job. Out of the storm: frequently the background of the appearances of the Lord in the Old Testament; cf. Ps 18; 50; Na 1:3; Hb 3:2–15.

* [38:3] Gird up your loins: prepare for combat—figuratively, be ready to defend yourself in debate.

* [38:7] Sons of God: see note on 1:6.

* [38:21] Ironic, but not a harsh rebuke. (Job, CHAPTER 38 | USCCB, n.d.)

* [40:4–5] Job’s first reaction is humble, but also seemingly cautious. (Job, CHAPTER 40 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 139 praises the Inescapable God

* [Psalm 139] A hymnic meditation on God’s omnipresence and omniscience. The psalmist is keenly aware of God’s all-knowing gaze (Ps 139:1–6), of God’s presence in every part of the universe (Ps 139:7–12), and of God’s control over the psalmist’s very self (Ps 139:13–16). Summing up Ps 139:1–16, 17–18 express wonder. There is only one place hostile to God’s rule—wicked people. The psalmist prays to be removed from their company (Ps 139:19–24). (Psalms, PSALM 139 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus expresses woes to Unrepentant Cities.

* [10:13–16] The call to repentance that is a part of the proclamation of the kingdom brings with it a severe judgment for those who hear it and reject it.

* [10:15] The netherworld: the underworld, the place of the dead (Acts 2:27, 31) here contrasted with heaven; see also note on Mt 11:23. (Luke, CHAPTER 10 | USCCB, n.d.)

Larry Gillick, S.J. comments that Jesus sends them and us to speak about is not personal reconstruction so we can feel better about ourselves as we advance. Fr Gillick worries that writers and preachers and those who hear and read the Gospels are tempted to promote “personal behavior” adjustments and so read and listen to the Good News as instructive and indicting about our personal and daily activities. Well that can sound pretty good, Jesus came as a Behaviorist, change your actions and you’ll look a lot like Jesus. That can sound pretty good too.

As a young Jesuit I worked a long time on just such a plan and it depressed me, because it was all about my getting better in my own eyes, my own sense which I then projected onto Jesus. Now I had Jesus over there pointing out my faults and misbehaviors and I assumed He was as disappointed in me as I was about the same “poor me”. I called that, Ignatian Dis-spiritualization. It was and I did never improve by trying to improve. What changed? Jesus’ finger changed from pointing to inviting, “And that has made all the difference.”

I am almost at the end, hang on!  Jesus is sending these men whom we assume have not perfectly self-improved, to live and speak the words of comfort of the loving-creative God Who has sent this comfort into the world in the human flesh of Jesus, Who invites rather than indicts. In short, we change our behaviors from within! The Word is a seed that grows in time and inside and does not constantly self-examines to see if the growth is enough.

The great works of Francis and so many others flow outwards from our spirits, and those outwirdlies are more personal inviting than condemning words of logic and force. (Gillick, 2024)

Don Schwager quotes “Christ speaks through the disciples,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).

"Christ gives those who love instruction the assurance that whatever is said concerning him by the holy apostles or evangelists is to be received necessarily without any doubt and to be crowned with the words of truth. He who hears them, hears Christ. For the blessed Paul also said, 'You desire proof that Christ is speaking in me' (2 Corinthians 13:3). Christ himself somewhere also said to the holy disciples, 'For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaks in you' (Matthew 10:20). Christ speaks in them by the consubstantial Spirit. If it is true, and plainly it is, that they speak by Christ, how can they err? He affirms that he who does not hear them, does not hear Christ, and that he who rejects them rejects Christ, and with him the Father."(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 63) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 10:13-16 comments that Jesus wanted the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum to experience God’s goodness and mercy. He invited them to repent so that they could be relieved of their guilt and rediscover the beauty that lay within them. Every one of the miracles he performed in their midst was meant as a sign of the new life he was offering them. If only they would repent and receive that new life!

Your heavenly Father is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in kindness (Psalm 103:8). Jesus has come to save, not to condemn (John 3:17). Take these truths with you the next time you celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And watch to see how your inner beauty shines forth!

“Thank you, Lord, for your love! Teach me the joy and freedom of repentance.” (Meditation on Luke 10:13-16, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the passage in the Book of Job where God comes to question Job after he has been challenged by his friends and invites surrender to the One who has arranged the universe. The villages near Capernaum allowed familiarity with Jesus to create an attitude of “What have you done for me lately?” Friar Jude reminds us that Luke aimed his teaching at Gentiles to extend the Promise beyond the limits of Israel.

Dan Horan reflects on how the Transitus of St. Francis of Assisi resonates with his decision, after a substantial period of prayerful discernment, that he is no longer called to remain a friar minor. He shares this news publicly, with the support of his religious superiors, on an important and symbolically significant day for the Franciscan family.

Throughout this journey I have been renewed in my Catholic faith and love of the church. My departure from religious life and retirement from sacramental ministry is in no way a sign of a lack of faith or belief. Instead, it is an affirmation of the dynamic and often surprising direction of the Holy Spirit, whom the psalmist describes as the one sent to "renew the face of the earth" (Psalms 104:30). I feel renewed in my baptismal calling as part of the Body of Christ, willing to serve the church and world in new ways. My state of life, as the church often refers to it, may have changed, but my faith in God has not. (Horan, n.d.)

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, names the passing on of love as the great gift of Francis of Assisi. Contemplative minds and hearts such as those of Francis and Clare are alone prepared to hand on the Great Mystery from age to age and from person to person. The utilitarian and calculating mind distorts the message at its core. The contemplative, nondual mind inherently creates a great “communion of saints,” which is so obviously scattered, hidden, and amorphous that no one can say, “Here it is,” or “There it is,” but instead it is always “among you” (Luke 17:21)—invisible and uninteresting to most, but obvious and ecstatic to those who seek (see Matthew 22:14).

From the Trinity to Jesus, the energetic movement of receiving and giving Love begins. Then, from Jesus to many—Francis and Clare, Bonaventure and Scotus, Thérèse of Lisieux, Teilhard de Chardin, Mother Teresa, Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Pope Francis, and now we ourselves—we are all part of this one great parade, “partners in God’s triumphal procession,” as Paul calls it, “spreading the knowledge of God like a sweet smell everywhere” (2 Corinthians 2:14), much more a transmission of authentic life and love than of mere ideas or doctrines.  

It is remarkable to know that findings about mirror neurons almost prove that this energetic movement is the case, even physiologically and interpersonally. [1] It is not just pious poetry. If we have never received a gaze of love, we do not even have the neural ability to hand it on. We cannot really imagine love, much less pass it on, until we have accepted that someone—God, another person, or even an animal—could fully accept us as we are. (Rohr, n.d.)

We ponder the power of Love to reveal truth, beauty, and goodness and to shape our actions as disciples of Christ.

References

Gillick, L. (2024, October 4). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved October 4, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/100424.html 

Horan, D. (n.d.). Always a Franciscan in spirit, but no longer a friar. National Catholic Reporter | The Independent News Source. Retrieved October 4, 2024, from https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/guest-voices/always-franciscan-spirit-no-longer-friar 

Job, CHAPTER 38 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 4, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/job/38 

Job, CHAPTER 40 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 4, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/job/40 

Luke, CHAPTER 10 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 4, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/10?13 

Meditation on Luke 10:13-16. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved October 4, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/10/04/1096816/ 

Psalms, PSALM 139 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 4, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/139?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Contemplation and Love. Richard Rohr. Retrieved October 4, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/contemplation-and-love/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). He Who Hears You Hears Me. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved October 4, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=oct4 

Replaced in the end

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today remind us that the political regimes in our history have fallen in succession as we move as the Body of Christ in pursuit of truth, beauty, and goodness in achieving the common good.

Temporary Empires

The reading from the Book of Daniel tells of the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.

* [2:36–45] The four successive kingdoms in this apocalyptic perspective are the Babylonian (gold), the Median (silver), the Persian (bronze), and the Hellenistic (iron). The last, after Alexander’s death, was divided among his generals (vv. 41–42). Of the kingdoms which emerged from this partitioning, the two that most affected the Jews were the dynasties of the Ptolemies in Egypt and the Seleucids in Syria. They tried in vain, by war and through intermarriage, to restore the unity of Alexander’s empire (v. 43). The stone hewn from the mountain is the kingdom of God awaited by the Jews (vv. 44–45). Compare the image of the stone applied to Jesus in Luke 20:17–18.1

Another passage from the Book of Daniel is a response in the words of the prayer of Azariah in the fiery furnace.

* [3:24–90] These verses are additions to the Aramaic text of Daniel, translated from the Greek form of the book. They were probably first composed in Hebrew or Aramaic, but are no longer extant in the original language. The Roman Catholic Church has always regarded them as part of the canonical Scriptures.2 

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus foretells the destruction of the Temple and describes signs and persecutions to come.

 * [21:8] The time has come: in Luke, the proclamation of the imminent end of the age has itself become a false teaching.3

Thomas Quinn observes we all have witnessed, if not in person, in the news media, the end of nations, plagues, wars, famine, and earthquakes.

 I believe that the most important phrase that Jesus tells us in today’s gospel is, “many will come in my name, saying ‘I am he’ and ‘the time has come.”  He implies by this that he, in fact, is the chosen one. The time had come. God would, and does, replace the temporal powers, and continues to fill the world with His power and majesty.4

Don Schwager quotes “First signs of the end times,” by Maximus of Turin (died between 408-423 AD).

"Perhaps you are anxious, brothers and sisters, at the fact that we hear constantly of the tumult of wars and the onsets of battles. Perhaps your love is still more anxious since these are taking place in our times. The reason is the closer we are to the destruction of the world, the closer we are to the kingdom of the Savior. The Lord himself says, 'In the last days nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. When you see wars, earthquakes and famines, know that the kingdom of God is at hand.'This nearness of wars shows us that Christ is near." (excerpt from SERMON 85.1)5 

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 21:5-11 notes as Jesus predicted, the Temple was destroyed. It happened in AD 70 when the Roman army moved in to put down a Jewish uprising. It was seen as a complete catastrophe—an undeniable triumph of the forces of evil over the will of God. But true to form, God was able to take this tragedy and bring great good out of it. With the Temple gone, the early Christians could grasp even more deeply the central truth that God now lived in them by the power of the Holy Spirit.

It’s just as true today as it was in AD 70: Christ dwells in you, always. He also dwells in a special way in every tabernacle around the world. And he dwells in every one of your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Are you struggling to understand a tragedy? It could be something deeply personal or something profoundly upsetting on the news. By all means, grieve and mourn the loss. Cry out to God for healing and strength. But at the same time, hold on to your faith. Believe, even against all hope, that God still has you in the palm of his hand. Believe, despite your fears and sadness, that he is already at work to bring good out of evil.6 

Friar Jude Winkler fleshes out the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Is Jesus language about an apocalyptic event or our personal end? Friar Jude reminds us of the message to be ready.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that authors and scholars Peter Block, John McKnight, and Walter Brueggemann partnered to write “An Other Kingdom: Departing the Consumer Culture,” which describes the shifts in thinking that could create a post-consumer economy. It sounds a lot like the Gospel.

Luckily, the exodus from a consumer, globalized culture into a neighborly, localized communal and cooperative culture has begun. We join the chorus of other agents of the alternative economy: food hubs, cooperative and social enterprises, the climate change activists, health activists, [etc.]. . . .
Neighborliness means that our well-being and what really matters is close at hand and can be locally constructed or produced. In this modern time, neighborliness is considered quaint and nostalgic. To make neighborliness the center of our social order requires an act of imagination. It is counter-cultural. It is also a form of social interaction that is built on a covenant that serves the common good. . . .7 

Serving the common good is a theme discussed in the video series "Understanding Laudato Si," hosted by Fr. Daniel P. Horan, OFM who explores Chapter Four of Pope Francis encyclical “Laudato Si”, including the theme of the principle of the common good.

 The sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment (LS156/GS26)8

The long march of history has seen some human progress in dealing with persecution and inequity among the children of God.

Understanding Laudato Si

We are called in this time to renew our mission to realize the common good.

References

1	(n.d.). Daniel, chapter 2 - United States Conference. Retrieved November 26, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/daniel/2
2	(n.d.). Daniel, chapter 3. Retrieved November 26, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/daniel/3
3	(n.d.). Luke, chapter 21 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved November 26, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/21
4	(n.d.). Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries .... Retrieved November 26, 2019, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved November 26, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved November 26, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/11/26/
7	(2019, November 26). Departing the Consumer Culture — Center for Action and .... Retrieved November 26, 2019, from https://cac.org/departing-the-consumer-culture-2019-11-26/
8	(2016, May 3). "Understanding Laudato Si" Series - YouTube. Retrieved November 26, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLO2W1tFFtdJn9V9_DvEbz9Bygt7XsYXRj

Common Good

Dan Horan, OFM, YouTube series "Understanding Laudato Si" in Episode 10 discusses the principle of the common good in Catholic Social Teaching CST.