Servant of the Word: Monday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

(Optional Memorial for Saint John Paul II, Pope)

Texts for this Memorial may be taken from the Common of Pastors (For a Pope #724, 2.)

“The Gathering of the Manna”
by Guido Reni, 1614-15.

Readings for Monday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time [1]

Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [2]

Commentary:

Reading 1: Ephesians 2:1-10

Commentary on Eph 2:1-10

In the first half of the second chapter of St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, the evangelist describes how the faithful are reconciled to God in Christ. He begins in the opening verses describing how, before they were chosen in Christ, the faithful readers of his letter were dead in their sins. Their natural values followed the evil one (“following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the disobedient”). In this fallen state, the desires of the flesh drove them toward a life of “wrath” (anger – hatred) as it does even now to those who do not accept Christ’s law of love.

St. Paul continues, now showing how, through Christ’s sacrifice, God pours out his grace on his adopted sons and daughters, an unmerited gift from God. It is through grace that salvation is given as a free gift, something we cannot earn through our own actions (“it is not from works, so no one may boast”). He concludes reminding the reader that all are God’s “handiwork,” his creation in Christ Jesus, called to a life of good works.

CCC: Eph 2:3 2515; Eph 2:4-5 654; Eph 2:4 211, 1073; Eph 2:6 1003, 2796

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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 100:1b-2, 3, 4ab, 4c-5

R. (3b) The Lord made us, we belong to him.

Commentary on Ps 100:1b-2, 3, 4ab, 4c-5

Psalm 100 is a song of praise sung by the assembly. It affirms God’s saving grace given to his sons and daughters through all generations.

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Gospel: Luke 12:13-21

Commentary on Lk 12:13-21

The passage begins with Jesus refusing to provide rabbinical guidance to a person in the crowd. Such guidance is provided in Numbers 27:1-11 and Deuteronomy 21:15ff, but the Lord saw greed at the root of the request. He uses the parable (found only in Luke) of the rich landowner (fool in some translations) to emphasize the need to focus on the spiritual gifts that do not perish, not just on material goods. He tells the one who wishes to have Jesus arbitrate a dispute with that person’s brother to take care against greed.

The parable has elements of other stories used by Jesus in which the unpredictability of the end of life is emphasized. Speaking to the crowd, the Lord tells them to focus on those spiritual attributes without delay. St. Athanasius used these words: “A person who lives as if he were to die every day- given that our life is uncertain by definition- will not sin, for good fear extinguishes most of the disorder of our appetites; whereas he who thinks he has a long life ahead of him will easily let himself be dominated by pleasures (Adversus Antigonum).” [4]

CCC: Lk 12:13-14 549

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Reflection:

In the recent Olympics the world was transfixed as athletes from around the world competed in a myriad of events. As different as they all were, young and old, large and small, and men and women, they had one thing in common. They all had worked hard at their craft, mentally and physically, to get to that level of competition.

We wonder: how many of these elite athletes paused to consider how it was that they were able to achieve such prominence in their sport? Did the young American girls who won their gold medals for gymnastics ever marvel at who gave them the physical and mental attributes that allowed them to perform as they did? Did the South Korean archery team give thanks to God for their success?

We do not pose these questions to be critical of other people from different cultural backgrounds; rather, we see the Olympics as analogous to our own lives, the events as being like the challenges we face in work, school, or at home. Like those athletes, many of us have trained for a profession or avocation. We work hard at whatever we do. Yet, could we have accomplished anything if God in his infinite mercy had not given us the gifts of life, health, and ability?

And when we start the active parts of our lives, do we say: “I think I’ll start slowly in order to save my strength for when I am older?” Do we procrastinate in our physical activities, vowing to strive for physical excellence when we grow old? No, most of us worked very hard early in our lives to acquire the physical attributes and mental skills necessary to embark upon our chosen path. We realize that the earlier we start and the harder we work, the more likely our potential will be fully realized.

Holy Scripture tells us that the same must be true of our spiritual pursuits. We cannot store up our energy, hoping to make a sudden sprint for sainthood at the end of our days. Christ uses the story of the wealthy landowner to emphasize this point. He asks the crowd rhetorically: what good is saving God’s gifts to the end before using them if we do not know when that end will come?

In counterpoint or paradox, St. Paul tells the Ephesians in his letter that they cannot earn God’s grace; it is only through his mercy that grace is given. We cannot store up that grace, it is given to us by God, a spiritual energy that infuses us and gives us strength.

Today we renew our pledge to build up our spiritual strength. We pledge once more to be faithful to our spiritual discipline of prayer, meditation, and works of charity. When we are called home to the Heavenly Father, may we take with us all the riches Christ gives us in a spirit worthy of him who created us all.

Pax

[1] The picture used today is “The Gathering of the Manna” by Guido Reni, 1614-15.

[2] S.S. Commemoratio