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Commentary on Luke 12:13-21

We move on now in Luke to more immediate concerns of the Christian life. Today’s topic is about the perennial question of money, or rather, the love of money. A man in the crowd said to Jesus:

Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.

According to Mosaic Law, the general rule was that an elder son received double that of a younger son. If there was a dispute, it was usually settled by a rabbi, which is presumably why the man approached Jesus. It was the kind of problem in which Jesus was not remotely interested, and he refused to get involved. One wonders how interested Jesus is when we make novenas to win lotteries or when we ask God to help us get our hands on the wealth of a rich and elderly aunt!!

Jesus now takes the opportunity to make some general remarks “against all kinds of greed”. A man may be wealthy, he says, but his possessions do not guarantee him life. Life comes with freedom, peace and happiness. Money cannot buy these things.

There is no evidence that rich people enjoy more freedom, peace or happiness, although many of us are inclined to think they do and envy them. Their marriages do not last any longer. They do not bring up better children. They do not necessarily enjoy better health.

At this point Jesus speaks a telling parable. A farmer who is already rich has a bumper harvest. It is so big that he has to pull down his existing barns to build larger ones. When all that is done, he smugly says to himself: “My boy, you have blessings in reserve for years to come. Relax! Put your feet up. Eat heartily, drink well. Enjoy yourself.” But, Jesus tells them, that very night:

God said to him [i.e. the farmer], ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you’.

What happens now to all his piled-up wealth? Yes, it is all left behind. “You can’t take it with you.” “How much did he leave?” was asked about a billionaire who died. “Every cent,” was the reply. When the farmer met his God, what had he brought with him? Little or nothing. When St Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) died, how much do you think she brought? One feels she brought a great deal. And she certainly left behind a great deal to enrich the lives of many.

What is my attitude to money and wealth? If I were to die now, what could I bring with me to present to God? And what will I leave behind, apart from cash and possessions? All of us can be rich in God’s sight, and it does not require any money. Someone has said that the really rich are not those who have the most, but those whose needs are the least (see Luke 12:22-34, where Jesus spells out a recipe for a life free from anxiety—the life which he himself lived).

And what we need most is the ability to reach out in love, the love that builds and makes life better for others. Think of what good parents leave behind in children whose lives are dedicated to making this world a better place—or teachers who have helped young people to devote themselves to service of the community. What we need is to live in communities where people look after each other. That would be a situation where, because everyone gives, everyone gets.

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Commentary on Ephesians 2:1-10

We now enter the second chapter of the Letter in which Paul speaks of how the Gentiles together with the Jews have been called to share the gift of God’s love, showered on them with total generosity and not because of any merit on their part. Here Paul speaks about what God has done through Christ for both Jews (of which he himself is a representative) and Gentiles (who form the majority of his readers).

He begins by addressing the Gentiles (“you”), who in the past lived lives both morally and spiritually far from God:

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world…

This is a description of their past moral and spiritual condition, separated from the life of God. They were under the influence of the “ruler of the power of the air”. The air was believed to be the dwelling place of Satan and all the demons, and this implies they belonged to a higher world than this earth.

But he says, “all of us”, meaning Paul and all his fellow-Jews were not without fault either. They too lived “doing the will of flesh and senses”, ruled only by their own physical desires and their own ways of thinking. The Jews were as worthy of God’s punishment as the rest of the world. (One has only to read the prophets to see how severely they condemned the behaviour of their own people.)

However, “we” (now indicating all, both Jews and Gentiles), though dead through our sin, have experienced God’s mercy and compassion and are overwhelmed by the outpouring of God’s love:

…when we were dead through our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ…and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…

Paul expresses this truth more fully in his Letter to the Romans (see Rom 6:1-10).

Notice the past tense of “seated us with him”. Already in Christ we are enjoying the life that will never end and for which the death of the body is a mere transition. Treating the eschatological reality as already existing is a characteristic of Paul’s letters written from prison. This way of thinking is also to be found in John’s Gospel.

In the final paragraph, Paul emphasises how what God has done for us in Christ Jesus is a sign of the immense and forgiving love of God which is given to people everywhere as purely free gift. It is in no way earned by what we do:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God…

The saving is the gift of God; the faith is the trusting surrender of openness to that love. Our standing with God is:

…not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

Access to this love comes through faith, the unconditional surrender in trust of our whole selves to our loving God. It is not by any meritorious acts of our own, as believed by those who base salvation on the meticulous observance of a law or a moral code—as if such observance bound God to hand out rewards for good behaviour.

On the contrary:

…we are what he has made us…

Everything that we have become, every good and beautiful thing we do is simply God at work in us and through us. We are:

…created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them.

But our doing so depends entirely on our openness to his guidance and help.

Let us then today say our unconditional ‘Yes’ to Jesus in faith. Only in this way can the deepest longings of our hearts be realised.

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Commentary on Galatians 5:18-25

In our final reading from Galatians today we have a magnificent passage where Paul once again touches on the Spirit-given freedom which is the characteristic of the true Christian.

He begins with a statement which we Catholics should have engraved on our hearts:

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.

In the Letter to the Romans Paul had also said:

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.(Rom 8:14)

And just prior to these verses, he had said to the Galatians:

Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. (Gal 5:16)

By putting oneself under the Spirit, one is not under the bondage of trying to please God by minute observance of the law for salvation or sanctification.

The sign of the Spirit’s presence is love (agape). If we are genuinely filled with the Spirit of truth and love, then we really have no need of law. As we read in the First Letter of John:

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. (1 John 4:16)

And as St Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) once said:

Where there is (agape) love, there is God.

St Augustine put it:

Love and do what you like.

If we were able to be truly loving, we could not commit sin, even though in certain circumstances we might violate the letter of a particular law. On the other hand, a person who meticulously carries out the smallest detail of a law may be a very unloving person, an intolerant bigot or a person full of hate.

In practice, of course, every institution or organisation needs some kinds of rules which help members to live according to the spirit of the group. Ignatius of Loyola realised this when he wrote his detailed Constitutions for the Society of Jesus. But the principle enunciated by Paul here must remain paramount. The rules are to help advance the spirit and goals of the group; any rule or any application of a rule that frustrates that spirit or goal is to be set aside.

Paul illustrates the difference between a life which is purely self-directed (lived according to the “flesh”) and one lived in the Spirit by describing two kinds of people. These are diametrically opposed to each other and mutually exclusive.

One kind consists of those who act in a spirit of total self-indulgence, those who do what they like whenever they feel like it. It is a description of the self-centred hedonistic, individualistic, person.

He gives a partial list of 15 kinds of behaviour:

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.

These emerge from our lower instincts and are destructive both of others and oneself. Such lists of vices and virtues were common in the ancient world, and others can be found in the New Testament. This type of behaviour is clearly at odds with what one expects in a world where God’s way is paramount.

On the other hand, those who live in the Spirit of the Father and Christ behave in a very different way. The presence and power of the Spirit in such people results in very different characteristics. Paul says:

By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

Christian character is produced by the Holy Spirit, not by the mere moral discipline of trying to live by following the laws. Paul makes it clear that justification by faith does not result in a law-less life. The indwelling Holy Spirit produces Christian virtues in the believer’s life. These are not just ‘virtues’ which I can acquire by constant practice. Much more they are the natural outcome of a life lived in close relationship with Jesus through his Spirit, and allowing the Way of Jesus to guide one’s life. It is not a question of self-discipline or self-control, but rather of having a vision of where the good life really is and following that path.

We might notice that Paul contrasts “works of the flesh” with the “fruit” (not ‘works’) of the Spirit. It is the Spirit, not the following of laws, which lead to such qualities in a person. And, as Paul points out, there is no law covering such characteristics. They are above and beyond any law and, when they are operative, the keeping of the law is more than adequately looked after.

The only way, then, to belong to Christ is by letting go of all—for us to:

…have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

The Spirit of Jesus directs such lives. As stated in the NIV Bible:

“Christian character is produced by the Holy Spirit, not by the mere moral discipline of trying to live by law.”

On the other hand, absence of law does not mean lawlessness or spiritual anarchy. On the contrary, our deepening relationship with Jesus, our prayerful reflection on his teaching and our acceptance of that teaching, points us firmly in the direction of truth, love and freedom.

The Letter to the Galatians, although it seems to be dealing with a very specific problem of a very specific group of people, in fact has a great deal of relevance for Christians of every age and every place. The lesson about the freedom of the Christian is of the greatest importance. It is very sad if we see our being Christian as a restricted form of being human, with limitations set as a condition for ‘salvation’ in a future existence. It is not a means of ‘numbing’ the lower classes to accepting an unjust existence as the price for a future happiness.

To the contrary, it is the person who is a world unto himself, with no thought of the needs of others, who becomes the slave of his own passions and fantasies. And when society is full of such people, then we see the kind of behaviour that Paul deplores in today’s passage. Paradoxically, it is the loving person, the one who lives for the genuine well-being of others, who becomes the most enriched. The best society is one where, when everyone gives, then everyone gets.

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Commentary on Luke 11:29-32

Jesus has just said (last Saturday’s reading):

Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it! (Luke 11:28)

Now, with large crowds pressing around him, he throws out a warning which indicates that not many are hearing the word in the sense of accepting and following it:

This generation is an evil generation…

Why? Jesus says this generation is evil because it keeps asking for a sign by which he can prove his credentials. Today he says the only sign they will be given is the “sign of Jonah”.

Jonah was a sign from God to the people of Nineveh, a pagan city which heard his message, repented and was reconciled to God. Jesus too comes on a mission from God (“as the Father has sent me”) and he will find a hearing—not from many of his own people, but from Gentiles.

So, Jesus says, the “queen of the south” will stand in judgement on the present generation for she, a gentile outsider, came from a long distance to listen to the wisdom of Solomon. But Jesus, who now faces this generation, is far greater than Solomon. The “queen of the south” is the queen of Sheba, whose visit to Solomon is recorded in the First Book of Kings (1 Kgs 10:1-10).

Similarly, the people of Nineveh, the great pagan and wicked city, will stand in judgement over the present generation because they repented at the message of Jonah. But Jesus is greater than Jonah, and now they refuse to listen to him.

There is always a danger that we take our faith for granted. Worse, we may even feel we are in a superior and safer position than others not of our faith or denomination. The fact that we carry the name ‘Catholic’ is not enough. Baptism and the reception of the other sacraments is not by itself a guarantee of our salvation. What counts is that we hear, understand, accept and assimilate the word of Jesus and carry it out at every moment of our lives.

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Commentary on Luke 11:42-46

Jesus today continues to attack the attitudes of Pharisees. These remarks are not to be thought of as applying to all Pharisees, many of whom were good people. Paul himself was once a Pharisee as was Nicodemus, who came to Jesus by night, and Gamaliel, who, in the Acts of the Apostles (5:34), urged caution in persecuting the disciples of Jesus. Jesus is to be seen rather attacking a certain mentality which can all too easily be among us Christians and, if we are honest, sometimes in ourselves.

Here Jesus attacks the Pharisees for their scrupulous observance of even the tiniest of regulations, not because that is wrong, but because they by-pass the love of God, which is what really matters. He attacks them for their status-seeking. The Pharisees expect people to look up to them and give them special honours because of their supposed higher level of religious observance. They expect to be given front seats in the synagogue and for people to greet them obsequiously in the streets.

Usually graves were whitewashed so that people would not walk over them by mistake. The Pharisees are like unmarked graves which people unwittingly come in contact with and thus become tainted with ritual uncleanness. In other words, people coming in contact with them are not aware that under the veneer of piety inside, they are really containers of rottenness and corruption. Elsewhere, Jesus also describes the Pharisees as whitewashed graves where the outer cleanliness conceals inner corruption.

In the past (and perhaps in some places it is still the case), the clergy have often expected similar honours to be paid to them. Very often, people willingly did so because they genuinely respected their bishop or their priest. Sometimes, however, the honours were demanded or expected, rather than graciously and humbly received. But as the saying goes, “the clerical habit does not make the monk, nor the Roman collar the priest, nor the mitre the bishop”.

At this point, “one of the experts in the law” (a scribe) objected because, in speaking like that about the Pharisees, Jesus was attacking them too, as some of the scribes were also Pharisees. But they are equally deserving of criticism because their narrow-minded interpretations about insignificant details of the law make it difficult for ordinary people to keep the law, while they themselves do nothing to help. Moreover, they add rules and regulations to the Mosaic Law, do nothing to support people in keeping them and find ways for themselves to get around them.

The Church itself over the centuries has not been above criticism in this area either. And perhaps it is still true today. Bishops and priests have often laid heavy burdens on the faithful and not given much help in carrying them. Sometimes church leaders have been more anxious to preserve traditional practices than lead people to a deeper love of Christ and each other.

But the clergy have no monopoly on this. Parents too can be guilty when they follow double standards, making one rule for themselves and another for their children. Similarly teachers with students or employers with employees may exhibit the approach: “Do as I say; don’t do as I do.” Pharisaism is indeed alive and well in our society—but the first person I need to fix is me.

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Commentary on Jeremiah 28:1-17 Read Monday of Week 18 of Ordinary Time – First Reading »

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Commentary on Matthew 14:13-21

The announcement of John the Baptist’s death is followed immediately in Matthew by the feeding of the 5,000 in the desert. Matthew says that Jesus, on hearing of his cousin’s tragic death, withdrew by boat to a desert place by himself. He clearly wanted time to reflect. He knew that, if things continued as they were, he too would be facing trouble.

However, the crowds knew where he had gone and followed along the shore on foot and:

When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.

His own troubles were set aside as he saw the greater need of the people. We have here, of course, an image of our God, filled with compassion for all of us and anxious to bring us healing and wholeness.

As evening comes down, the disciples suggest that the people be sent to neighbouring villages for food. It is the first mention of the disciples’ presence. In Mark’s version of this story, the disciples had accompanied Jesus in the boat at his invitation, so that they could all have a period of quiet away from the crowds. Jesus’ response is simple and to the point:

They need not go away; you give them something to eat.

They reply:

We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.

This, of course, is a sign of the future. It will be the responsibility of Jesus’ followers to give the people the nourishment they need for their lives. At times, their resources will seem very inadequate, but time will show that wonders can be done with very little. Just look at what St (Mother) Teresa of Calcutta achieved with nothing of her own.

The people are then ordered to sit down on the grass. Jesus takes the loaves and fish, looks up to heaven in the direction of his Father, blesses the food, breaks it and gives it to the disciples, who in turn distribute it among the people. The whole action clearly prefigures the Eucharist and leads up to it.

It is not explained how it all happened, but “five thousand men”, not counting the women and children also present, had their fill. Matthew alone notes the presence of women and children. As Jews did not permit women and children to eat together with men in public, they would have been in a separate place by themselves. And what was left over filled 12 baskets – a perfect number symbolising both abundance, and also the number of the Apostles.

There are two clear lessons. The first is that God takes care of his people. We can read the feeding in two ways. On the one hand, we can simply take it as a miraculous event, pointing to the divine origins of Jesus. On the other hand, there is another possibility with its own meaning. Once the disciples began to share the little food they had with those around, it triggered a similar movement among the crowd, many of whom had actually brought some food with them. When everyone shared, everyone had enough – a picture of the kind of society the Church should stand for. Some might say that this is explaining away the miracle, but it also makes an important point for us to consider in our own lives.

The second lesson is that it was the disciples and not Jesus who distributed the bread and fish. And so it must be in our own time. If the followers of Jesus do not share with others what they have received from him, the work of Jesus and the spreading of the Gospel will not happen.

Lastly, and as already mentioned, there are clear Eucharistic elements in the story – especially the ritualistic way in which Jesus prayed, blessed, broke and distributed the bread. The breaking of the bread (a name for the Mass) is very important because it indicates sharing and not just eating. The Eucharist is the celebration of a sharing community. If sharing of what we have in real life is not taking place, then the Eucharist becomes a ritualistic sham, like:

…whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful but inside are full of the bones of the dead… (Matt 23:27)

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