Love and Sacrifice

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today exhort us to act in the knowledge that love for one another is the path to fullness of life, the cost of which is assessed with the guidance of the Spirit.

Love our Neighbour

The reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans exhorts us to Love for One Another.

* [13:8–10] When love directs the Christian’s moral decisions, the interest of law in basic concerns, such as familial relationships, sanctity of life, and security of property, is safeguarded (Rom 13:9). Indeed, says Paul, the same applies to any other commandment (Rom 13:9), whether one in the Mosaic code or one drawn up by local magistrates under imperial authority. Love anticipates the purpose of public legislation, namely, to secure the best interests of the citizenry. Since Caesar’s obligation is to punish the wrongdoer (Rom 13:4), the Christian who acts in love is free from all legitimate indictment. (Romans, CHAPTER 13, n.d.)

Psalm 112 praises the Blessings of the Righteous.

* [Psalm 112] An acrostic poem detailing the blessings received by those who remain close to God by obedience to the commandments. Among their blessings are children (Ps 112:2), wealth that enables them to be magnanimous (Ps 112:3, 5, 9), and virtue by which they encourage others (Ps 112:4). The just person is an affront to the wicked, whose hopes remain unfulfilled (Ps 112:10). The logic resembles Ps 1; 111.

* [112:3] Righteousness: in the Second Temple period the word acquired the nuance of liberality and almsgiving, cf. Sir 3:30; 7:10; Mt 6:1–4.

* [112:9] His horn: the symbol for vitality and honor. (Psalms, PSALM 112, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus presents the Cost of Discipleship.

* [14:25–33] This collection of sayings, most of which are peculiar to Luke, focuses on the total dedication necessary for the disciple of Jesus. No attachment to family (Lk 14:26) or possessions (Lk 14:33) can stand in the way of the total commitment demanded of the disciple. Also, acceptance of the call to be a disciple demands readiness to accept persecution and suffering (Lk 14:27) and a realistic assessment of the hardships and costs (Lk 14:28–32).

* [14:26] Hating his father…: cf. the similar saying in Mt 10:37. The disciple’s family must take second place to the absolute dedication involved in following Jesus (see also Lk 9:59–62). (Luke, CHAPTER 14, n.d.)

Scott McClure urges that the question of attachment is one worthy of some reflection. Is it not good to be attached to one's family? How can I love my family without being attached? St. Ignatius can help us as he addresses this very condition in what is known as the First Principle and Foundation of his Spiritual Exercises. 

The goal of our life is to be with God forever.
We should not fix our desires on
health or sickness,
wealth or poverty,
success or failure,
a long life or a short one.
For everything has the potential of calling forth in us
a deeper response to our life in God.

Who doesn't want to be healthy, or to have financial stability, success, or long life? Life may be easier with these things, but are they inherently more conducive to our deeper response to our life in God than are sickness, poverty, failure, or a short life? In this life, we are meant to participate with God in the creative power that springs from his love for us. We are part of this ongoing genesis. Whereas our health can enable us to serve God in various ways and thereby participate in his creative power, our sickness and the suffering that comes of it may, in equal measure, arouse our compassion for others who suffer, thereby enabling our greater participation in God's compassionate love for others. Whereas our success may enable us to institute positive change in our community and world, failure may remind us not to become distracted enough to think that our highest aims were ever of this world but, rather, of building up the Kingdom of God. (McClure, 2023)

Don Schwager quotes “Jesus permits us to love family but not more than God,” by Cyril of Alexandria, 375-444 A.D.

"He says, 'He that loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. He that loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me' (Matthew 10:37). By adding 'more than me,' it is plain that he permits us to love, but not more than we love him. He demands our highest affection for himself and that very correctly. The love of God in those who are perfect in mind has something in it superior both to the honor due to parents and to the natural affection felt for children." (excerpt fromCOMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 105) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 14:25-33 comments on what Jesus means when he talks about “hating” in today’s Gospel (Luke 14:26). The Greek word here is miseo, which can mean to love something or someone less. So when Jesus talks about “hating,” he is not talking about our modern understanding of hate, which implies an intense dislike. He is saying that in comparison to him, everything else pales. He’s urging us to renounce one choice—one “love”—in favor of another (Matthew 10:37).

Putting Jesus first also means “going against the grain” at times. We see how holy Jesus is, and we want to stay close to him. That means we may choose not to participate in something that others around us seem comfortable with, such as gossip. But that doesn’t mean we literally “hate” anyone. It just means that we are staying close to Jesus—and staying true to him, as a husband or wife is true to their spouse.

With all that in mind, let’s put Jesus first today!

“Lord, help me to choose you above all else.” (Meditation on Luke 14:25-33, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler discusses the shift in chapter 13 of Romans where Paul underlines our need to love everyone as ourselves. St Augustine understood evil as the absence of love that could be addressed by adding love. Friar Jude urges that we understand that the Gospels were written in a society very different from 21st Century America.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, contrasts this “meritocracy,” the punishment/reward economy of basic capitalism, with what Jesus presents. He calls it a gift economy. In a gift economy, there is no equivalence between what we give and how much we get. We don’t really like this model, because we feel we’ve worked hard to get “what’s ours.” We feel we have earned our rightful social positions.

Yet if we call ourselves Christians, we have to deal with the actual gospel of grace. The only way we can actually understand this is if we’ve had at least one experience of being given to without earning. It’s called forgiveness, unconditional love, and mercy. If we’ve never received unearned, undeserved love, we will stay in the capitalist worldview where 2 + 2 = 4. I put in my 2, I get my 2 back. But we remain very unsure, if not angry, about anything “free,” whether it is free health care (physical, mental, or spiritual) or even free education. These benefits can be seen as natural human rights that sustain peoples’ humanity and dignity, as papal social encyclicals make clear. All too often, though, we only want people in our own group to benefit from health care, education, and bail outs.

The bottom line is that we don’t “deserve” anything, anything! It’s all a gift. Until we have begun to live in the kingdom of God instead of the kingdoms of this world, we will think exactly like the world. To understand the gospel in its radical, transformative power, we have to stop counting, measuring, and weighing. We have to stop saying “I deserve” and deciding who does not deserve. None of us deserves! This daily conversion is hard to do unless we’ve experienced infinite mercy and realize that it’s all a gift—all the time. (Rohr, 2023)

When we assess our plans in union with the Way of Christ, we pray for love, mercy, and compassion to act in tension with the self-serving attitudes of the dominant culture.

References

Luke, CHAPTER 14. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved November 8, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/14?25 

McClure, S. (2023, November 8). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved November 8, 2023, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/110823.html 

Meditation on Luke 14:25-33. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved November 8, 2023, from https://wau.org/meditations/2023/11/08/823439/ 

Psalms, PSALM 112. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved November 8, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/112?1 

Rohr, R. (2023, November 8). The Gospel of Grace — Center for Action and Contemplation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved November 8, 2023, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/the-gospel-of-grace/ 

Romans, CHAPTER 13. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved November 8, 2023, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/romans/13?8 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). The True Cost of Discipleship. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved November 8, 2023, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2023&date=nov8 

Wisdom in speaking

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite contemplation of the practices we need to bring Wisdom guided by the Spirit to our daily witness.

Speaking for justice

The reading from the Book of Daniel tell of the writing on the wall interpreted by Daniel during Belshazzar’s feast.

* [5:26–28] Daniel interprets these three terms by a play on the words: MENE, connected with the verb meaning to number; TEKEL, with the verb meaning to weigh; PERES, with the verb meaning to divide. There is also a play on the last term with the word for Persians.1

The prayer of Azariah from the Book of Daniel is the response today.

* [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 assures that by our endurance we will gain your souls.

* [21:15] A wisdom in speaking: literally, “a mouth and wisdom.”3 

Chas Kestermeier, S.J. comments in making our choices for God, we are witnessing to ourselves, and while we learn the tricks which we play on ourselves to avoid the gift of giving ourselves constantly and totally to God we also learn what our serious, loving attempts to turn ourselves completely over to God do to us.

And in that transformation that God works in us as we seek Him comes a difference also in that witnessing to those others in our daily lives: the gifts of the Spirit, the fruits of the Spirit, and everything in between make us filled with inner peace, patience, generosity, purity, gentleness, and all the rest, and others can see how God is at work in us.4 

Don Schwager quotes “The faithful Christian is recognized by belief in the resurrection of the body,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"We should have no doubt that our mortal flesh also will rise again at the end of the world... This is the Christian faith. This is the Catholic faith. This is the apostolic faith. Believe Christ when he says, 'Not a hair of your head shall perish.' Putting aside all unbelief, consider how valuable you are. How can our Redeemer despise any person when he cannot despise a hair of that person's head? How are we going to doubt that he intends to give eternal life to our soul and body? He took on a soul and body in which to die for us, which he laid down for us when he died and which he took up again that we might not fear death." (excerpt from Sermon 214.11-12)5 

The Word Among Us Meditation on Daniel 5:1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28 notes that throughout all of his trials, Daniel is depicted as a humble, wise, and righteous man... From the day his stories were written, Daniel has stood as the best of the best, a hero’s hero, someone every eager young believer should aspire to be like.

We will never face a den of lions or a fiery furnace, but we do face cultural pressure to become like everyone else, even if it means denying our faith. Daniel’s example reminds us that God will reward and protect us if we stay strong and hold fast to what we know is right and good.
“Lord, help me to stay strong in my faith like Daniel. Give me Daniel’s courage and wisdom to follow you, no matter what.”6 

Friar Jude Winkler describes the desecration of the Temple vessels during Belshazzar’s feast. The prediction of Daniel about the fall of Babylon is referring to the collapse of the Seleucid Empire who were persecuting Israel at the time the text was written. Friar Jude reminds us of ongoing persecution referring to St Theresa of Lisieux persecution of pin pricks.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, is not going to say capitalism is wrong in all aspects; it does some very real and significant good. But we must be able to offer an honest critique of a system if we want to find a better way forward. In this excerpt, Arthur Simon, a Lutheran minister, deals fairly with capitalism, praising what it does well and encouraging us—especially those of us with power and privilege—to do better.

Left to its own devices, free enterprise capitalism would ruin the environment and let people starve. As a result, no nation leaves free enterprise entirely on its own. Every country will devise policies that, at least to some extent, guide free enterprise toward serving the wider public good, in this way acknowledging that while free enterprise may be a remarkable engine for driving economic growth, an engine is not the same as a steering wheel.7 

Reflecting on Simon’s message, Fr Richard considers: How do Gospel values like justice, compassion, and generosity make their way into our economic decisions?

Greed or good

Do they carry the same weight as our desire for material things? Persecution persists for those following Jesus Way. Our call is to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us to the patient endurance necessary in these tribulations.

References

1	(n.d.). Daniel, chapter 5. Retrieved November 27, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/daniel/5
2	(n.d.). Daniel, chapter 3. Retrieved November 27, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/daniel/3
3	(n.d.). Luke, chapter 21 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved November 27, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/21
4	(n.d.). Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries .... Retrieved November 27, 2019, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved November 27, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
6	(n.d.). Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved November 27, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/11/27/
7	(2019, November 27). Moral Capitalism — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved November 27, 2019, from https://cac.org/moral-capitalism-2019-11-27/

Invited to join the King

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite contemplation of the systems of leadership in society in comparison to the Way of Christ the King.

Two paths of leadership

The reading from the Second Book of Samuel is the preamble to David anointed as King of all Israel.

In Psalm 122, a song of praise and prayer for Jerusalem, the singer anticipates joining the procession into Jerusalem.

* [Psalm 122] A song of Zion, sung by pilgrims obeying the law to visit Jerusalem three times on a journey. The singer anticipates joining the procession into the city (Ps 122:1–3). Jerusalem is a place of encounter, where the people praise God (Ps 122:4) and hear the divine justice mediated by the king (Ps 122:5). The very buildings bespeak God’s power (cf. Ps 48:13–15). May the grace of this place transform the people’s lives (Ps 122:6–9)!1

The passage from the Letter to the Colossians contains a hymn selected to proclaim the supremacy of Christ.

* [1:15–20] As the poetic arrangement indicates, these lines are probably an early Christian hymn, known to the Colossians and taken up into the letter from liturgical use (cf. Phil 2:6–11; 1 Tm 3:16). They present Christ as the mediator of creation (Col 1:15–18a) and of redemption (Col 1:18b–20). There is a parallelism between firstborn of all creation (Col 1:15) and firstborn from the dead (Col 1:18). While many of the phrases were at home in Greek philosophical use and even in gnosticism, the basic ideas also reflect Old Testament themes about Wisdom found in Prv 8:22–31; Wis 7:22–8:1; and Sir 1:4. See also notes on what is possibly a hymn in Jn 1:1–18.2 

The episode from the Gospel of Luke, recounted only in this gospel, shows the compassion and mercy of the Good Shepherd.

* [23:39–43] This episode is recounted only in this gospel. The penitent sinner receives salvation through the crucified Jesus. Jesus’ words to the penitent thief reveal Luke’s understanding that the destiny of the Christian is “to be with Jesus.”3 

Eileen Burke-Sullivan shares that we are invited to ponder one of the most poignant gospel passages – to enter deeply into the mystery of salvation and to recognize that Jesus’ Lordship or authority in our lives must first of all arise from gratitude.

To recognize and honor the Kingship of Christ is to know our humanity in all humility and gratitude.  It is to receive the gift of salvation from one like us in all things but sin, and it is to be drawn so close to Christ’s suffering in our lives that we can ask through suffering to be re- membered – placed with Christ in the Reign of perfect mercy and everlasting joy.4 

Don Schwager quotes “My kingdom is not of the world,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

 "Listen, everyone, Jews and Gentiles, circumcised and uncircumcised. Listen, all kings of the earth. I am no hindrance to your rule in this world, for 'my kingdom is not of this world.' Banish the groundless fear that filled Herod the Great on hearing that Christ was born. More cruel in his fear than in his anger, he put many children to death (Matthew 2:3,16), so that Christ would also die. But 'my kingdom is not of this world,' says Christ. What further reassurance do you seek? Come to the kingdom that is not of this world. Do not be enraged by fear, but come by faith. In a prophecy Christ also said, 'He,' that is, God the Father, 'has made me king on Zion his holy mountain' (Psalm 2:6). But that Zion and that mountain are not of this world.    "What in fact is Christ's kingdom? It is simply those who believe in him, those to whom he said, 'You are not of this world, even as I am not of this world.' He willed, nevertheless, that they should be in the world, which is why he prayed to the Father, 'I ask you not to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one' (John 17:15-16). So here also he did not say, 'My kingdom is not' in this world but 'is not of this world.' And when he went on to prove this by declaring, 'If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have fought to save me from being handed over to the Jews,' he concluded by saying not 'my kingdom is not here' but 'my kingdom is not from here.'    "Indeed, his kingdom is here until the end of time, and until the harvest it will contain weeds. The harvest is the end of the world, when the reapers, who are the angels, will come and gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin (Matthew 13:48-41). And this could not happen if his kingdom were not here. But even so, it is not from here, for it is in exile in the world. Christ says to his kingdom, 'You are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world' (John 15:19). They were indeed of the world when they belonged to the prince of this world, before they became his kingdom. Though created by the true God, everyone born of the corrupt and accursed stock of Adam is of the world. [But] everyone who is reborn in Christ becomes the kingdom that is no longer of the world. For God has snatched us from the powers of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of his beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). This is that kingdom of which he said, 'My kingdom is not of this world; my kingly power does not come from here." (excerpt from TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 115.2)5

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 23:35-43 explains that when Pope Pius XI instituted this feast in 1925, he was responding to a culture he felt was rejecting Jesus and his ways. At a time when Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin were rising to power, Pius XI wanted to draw the world’s attention back to Jesus, the only One who could bring lasting peace. It was not the “peace” of a totalitarian ruler exercising power to eliminate opposition. It was the peace of a king who chose not to save himself but instead offered himself for our sake to reconcile us to God. This is the peace that he won for us as he poured out his very life’s blood on Calvary (Colossians 1:20).

That’s why our Gospel today presents Jesus as a king who reigns from the cross. He freely emptied himself even though, as our second reading reminds us, “in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell” (Colossians 1:19). He refused to come down from the cross because his mission was to save us, not to conquer us. He did not rise to the bait of the soldiers who goaded him to save himself (Luke 23:37). He chose instead to focus his attention on the thief crucified beside him who pleaded for mercy (23:43).
Jesus turns our concept of kingship on its head. Power made strong by humility and self-emptying. Influence and authority exercised through self-sacrifice and mercy. Leadership displayed in service. Let’s embrace Jesus and his kingdom today. Let’s pray that it be more fully established in us and through us in our world.6 

Friar Jude Winkler connects the King of Israel to the concept of shepherd leading his flock for the Israelites. The Greeks in Colossae, understood Divine Wisdom and many mediators between people and God. Friar Jude reminds us of the realized eschatology of Luke shown in the Gospel today.

Brian Purfield, member of the Mount Street Jesuit Centre team, comments that when the Gospel is preached to the Colossians they are told that Jesus is their mediator before God – but they already had many mediators before God and life seemed to work very well. They therefore asked the question: ‘where does Jesus fit into our system?’ In other words, they were trying to take the Gospel and super-impose it upon their already-existing worldview.

In the letter to the Colossians, Paul in effect tells them that their first mistake is that they are trying to fit Jesus into a system. Jesus does not fit into a system; Jesus is the system… Paul says: ‘he is the image of the unseen God.’ The Greek word here is eikon. An icon is a likeness, a reflection. Paul is saying that Jesus Christ, in his humanity, is a reflection of the unseen God. Paul does not make any judgement on whether or not the thrones, ruling forces, sovereignties and powers that have been the subject of some of the teachings to the Colossians, exist. What Paul is saying to the Colossians is: if they exist, the only reason why they exist is for the sake of Jesus Christ. No one, no being, no thing has come into this world, except that which has been made by God our Father in relationship to Jesus Christ.7

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, suggests that the capitalist system of exchange seems reasonable to almost everybody today. And if we’re honest, it makes sense to us, too. It just seems fair. The only trouble is, Jesus doesn’t believe it at all, and he’s supposed to be our spiritual teacher. This might just be at the heart of what we mean by real conversion to the Gospel worldview, although few seem to have recognized this… if we call ourselves Christians, we have to deal with the actual Gospel. Now the only way we can do the great turnaround and understand this is if we’ve lived through at least one experience of being given to without earning. It’s called forgiveness, unconditional love, and mercy. If we’ve never experienced unearned, undeserved love, we will stay in the capitalist worldview.

Brothers and sisters, you and I don’t “deserve” anything, anything. It’s all a gift. But until we begin to live in the kingdom of God instead of the kingdoms of this world, we think, as most Christians do, exactly like the world. We like the world of seemingly logical equations. Basically, to understand the Gospel in its purity and in its transformative power, we have to stop counting, measuring, and weighing. We have to stop saying “I deserve” and deciding who does not deserve. None of us “deserve”! Can we do that? It’s pretty hard . . . unless we’ve experienced infinite mercy and realize that it’s all a gift.8 

The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe is an opportunity to reflect on the conditions and roadblocks we create in our systems of relating to others. How can we move to act more like residents of Jesus Kingdom?

References

1	(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 122 - United States Conference. Retrieved November 24, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/122
2	(n.d.). Colossians 1:15 - United States Conference. Retrieved November 24, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/colossians/1
3	(n.d.). Luke, chapter 23 - United States Conference. Retrieved November 24, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/23
4	(n.d.). Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries .... Retrieved November 24, 2019, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
5	(2019, November 24). Daily Meditations - The Word Among Us. Retrieved November 24, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/11/23/
6	(2019, November 24). Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (Solemnity) - Mass .... Retrieved November 24, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/11/24/
7	(2009, June 23). The Letter to the Colossians: Jesus and the Universe .... Retrieved November 24, 2019, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20090623_1.htm
8	(2019, November 24). The Gospel Economy — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved November 24, 2019, from https://cac.org/the-gospel-economy-2019-11-24/