Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Actions Speak Louder Than Words_101319

Deacon Tom Writes,

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

There are several occasions when Jesus encounters Samaritans during his travels. You may recall that Jews and Samaritans despised each other. It was a religious rivalry fueled by differences from the past such as where they worshiped and how they interpreted scripture. These differences do not hinder Jesus from witnessing to the Samaritans about the Kingdom of God as in the story of the Woman at the Well, or in today’s account of the Curing of the Lepers. In both stories it is the Samaritans, the outsiders, who are receptive to Jesus’ message and are thus able to receive the grace Jesus has in store for them.    

Isn’t it amazing that Jesus is able to look beyond labels and see the human needs present in those whose paths cross his?  Jesus doesn’t proselytize. He doesn’t say, “Hey, become a good Jew first, then I’ll cure you or then I’ll tell you the Good New”. Jesus lets his actions speak for him. And what do his actions say?

Powerfully, the very fact that Jesus speaks to the lepers gives them a sense of dignity and breaks the isolation that has been imposed upon them by society. Their self-worth is affirmed when Jesus acknowledges their presence and instructs them to go and show themselves to the priest. When they listen to him they are cured. 

What joy this must have given them, but unfortunately, only one returns to the source of that joy, and that one is the outsider, the Samaritan. The others may have been equally as thankful and went on their way praising God as they rushed home to their families and loved ones. This one Samaritan, however, had the gratefulness to return and thank Jesus for bringing him back to life in the fullest sense of the word.   

Our Samaritan friend we encounter today reminds us to give thanks to God for restoring our lives by loving us and inviting us to let his love shine through our lives into the hearts and lives of others.

Enjoy the day

Deacon Tom     

Twenty-seventy Sunday in Ordinary Time - Power Source_100619

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Power Source”

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

Imagine we could harness the power Jesus associates with faith. If a tiny amount of faith could transform the physical environment, and one could move mountains, there would be no limit to the good that people with just a bit of faith could accomplish.  So why do we have so many conditions that cause us hardship, sorrow, regret and grief?  Is Jesus somehow chiding His disciples for lacking faith? 

The sudden urge the Apostles had for more faith is revealing. Was it because they are finally beginning to realize they needed to step up their game in order to follow Jesus; or they needed more faith themselves just to grasp Jesus’ revolutionary teachings about love, forgiveness and the cost of discipleship?  A little of each, I suspect. 

Today there is an obvious need for increased faith on our part. We need a deep faith to reshape the landscapes of our hearts and minds so that we realize that God is God and we are the work of His hands. This is a seismic shift in the prevailing wisdom of our contemporary society that feeds us non-stop with the toxic messaging that the individual is at the center of the universe; that holds out an empty wisdom that is relentless in feeding our egos and boosting our pride that “I” deserve the best, that “I’m # 1, that “I’m” a self-made person and everybody else has to take their place behind me.  Faith is the only antidote that enables us to see the bigger picture that places God at the center of everything and to recognize a power above and beyond us…a loving and caring God who invites us to enjoy and share this world and all its riches with one another and who gives us the vision there are greater things to come.  

Faith gives us a clear vision of what lies ahead and the obstacles we must overcome to get there. Once the Apostles recognized the road they were about to travel, they asked Jesus for the Faith to carry on. A wise request and one worthy of imitation. For, the more our faith increases, the more we will understand who we are: “we are unprofitable servants” striving to do what we have been asked to do – love, forgive and serve. 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom