Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - The Prophetic Tradition_092825

Deacon Tom Writes,

The Prophetic Tradition

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

The Prophet Amos who speaks to us in our first reading today was a shepherd of Tekoa in Judah during the prosperous reign of King Jeroboam II from 786-746 B.C. For several weeks now we have heard him speak of the injustices against the poor and the complacency of the people of his day. Like all prophets, his messages were very unpopular. Amos told the people that there would be a day of reckoning on account of how they treated the poor. He foretold a time when God would destroy Jerusalem and send his people into exile. The fulfillment of this prophecy took place in 597 B.C., an event history records as the Babylonian Captivity.

Amos belonged to a very special group of Old Testament authors known as the Minor Prophets. Included in this genre of very irritating people are Hosea, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Prophets were irritating because they delivered unpopular messages. The messages they delivered were not their own, but God’s. Prophets encouraged the people to return to God and be faithful to him. Not surprisingly, these individuals also foretold the dismal consequences that awaited the people of Israel for their prideful disobedience and unfaithfulness to God. Inherent in the prophetic message, however, was always a call to turn away from sin and return to the love of God.

 

It has been thousands of years since the Old Testament Prophets spoke out against the evils of their times. Yet, the passage of time has not silenced the need for us today to hear and take seriously the prophetic messages being spoken to us. Fortunately, there are those among us today who continue to speak prophetically about the poor and suffering among us. They remind us that the poor are still being treated unjustly through limited access to quality education and health care; they point out that racism and discrimination still prevail in many facets of our society; they shed light where immigrants are being exploited. Prophetic voices today remind us that we, like the people of Amos’s day, or like the riche man in today’s gospel, do not see the injustice and suffering of those around us. It seems that the real sin we all face today in our comfort and our abundance is that the poor and the needy have become invisible to us or worse yet, we have become indifferent to the “cries of the poor”. We have pushed the suffering souls to the fringes of our society so that our paths will seldom cross or our eyes will never meet.

 

Let us give thanks for the likes of St. Teresa of Calcutta, Nelson Mandela, Thomas Merton, Sr. Helen Prejean, Desmond Tutu, Henri Nouwen, Jean Vanier, St. John Paul II, Martin Luther King Jr., and Dorothy Day to name but a few faithful and courageous souls whose lives and witness have helped keep the embers of the prophetic tradition smoldering in our times. They have helped enlivened the spirits of so many others to continue to do the irritating work of the prophets who have gone before us.

 

May we listen to their words, imitate them and respond faithfully to the "cry of the poor".

 

Enjoy the day!

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com and listen in to hear some Catholic Deacons engage in a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold, those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it.

 

 

OTHER RESOURCES

 

Recommended Reading: Salvation: What Every Catholic Should Know by Michael Patrick Barber. The new What Every Catholic Should Know series is intended for the average faithful Catholic who wants to know more about Catholic faith and culture. The authors in this series take a panoramic approach to the topic of each book aimed at a non-specialist but enthusiastic readership. Forthcoming titles planned for this series include: literature, salvation, mercy, history, art, music and philosophy.

 

At every Sunday Mass, Catholics confess that Jesus came down from heaven “for us men and for our salvation.” But what does “salvation” mean? In this robust and accessible book, Scripture scholar and theologian Michael Patrick Barber provides a thorough, deeply Catholic, and deeply biblical, answer. He deftly tackles this complex topic, unpacking what the New Testament teaches about salvation in Christ, detailing what exactly salvation is, and what it is not. In easy and readable prose, he explains what the Cross, the Church, and the Trinity have to do with salvation. While intellectually stimulating, Salvation: What Every Catholic Should Know is deeply spiritual, and at its core is the salvific message that God is love, and his love is one of transformation and redemption.

 

Recommended YouTube: The Catechism in a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz. Like the Bible in a Year series, it is never too late to join Fr. Mike as he leads us through the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This is a wonderful way to learn about the beauty of our faith at our own pace. Give it a try. 

 

 

 

 

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - I Will Never Forget_092125

 

Deacon Tom Writes,

“I Will Never Forget”

 

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

We would be seriously mistaken to think that cheating the poor and stealing from the needy was a modern-day phenomenon. Sad to say that such behavior has been around for a long time. 750 years before Christ the Prophet Amos chastises those who tinkered with their scales in order to overcharge the poor and needy for their wheat and grain. The Lord has a few caustic words for them, “Never will I forget a thing they have done”!

 

Have you ever heard the expression, “keeping your thumb on the scale”? In whose favor does that work? In addition, those who engage in such a devious practice, as Amos writes, can’t wait for the Sabbath and the Festival of the New Moon to be over with so that they can take advantage of the poor of the land. Such behavior has gotten the Lord’s attention, says Amos, and the Lord, “will never forget a thing they have done”!

 

In the gospel, Jesus tells the story of a manager who has quite the way with numbers. Apparently, he was an unscrupulous steward whose deception was detected by his employer. What the steward lacked in integrity, however, he made up for with his imagination. Before he is fired, he cancels part of the debt that others owed his master. This way those whose debts he had forgiven would take care of him after he was discharged. What a fraud and so cleverly done. That’s why Jesus points him out. As deceitful as this act was, Jesus recognizes that the dishonest steward was very successful in taking very good care of himself.

 

Now, Jesus is not advocating deceitful means in our dealings with the world. Rather, he is suggesting that his disciples be as ingenious and imaginative in ways of building up the Kingdom of God as those who seek to acquire an inordinate share of the things of this world. If just a small token of our efforts were directed toward advancing the Kingdom of God in all our daily encounters. What if f we put into practice this same imaginative vision in doing God’s work in our families and offices, in our political activities or governmental structures or in our schools, where we shop or play, in the way we view the people whose ideologies, ethnicities, political views, socio-economic backgrounds differ from ours. If we put that same cleverness of the unscrupulous servant, do you not think that a more just and peaceful world would unfold before our very eyes. And if you believe that then I suspect two things would follow: one, we would realize that we are missing out on something special and two, we would be more energize to make our contribution wherever we can as best we are able.

 

Today’s readings prompt us to reflect on how much imagination and energy we put into bringing about God’s Kingdom as we go about our daily affairs. Do we see the poor being abused and cheated in any way today and point it out, refuse to participate, seek to put an end to unfair and unjust practices that oppress them? This is an important question for disciples of Jesus to ask themselves today and every day for much in wrong with our world today and silence seems to be the order of the day. As disciples of Christ, we cannot stand idly by and stick our heads in the sand. And why is that? It is because those words of the Prophet Amos also apply equally to us today as to those of his time for, as the Lord says, “Never will I forget a thing they have done.”

 

Enjoy the day,

Deacon Tom

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com and listen in to hear some Catholic Deacons engage in a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold, those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it.

 

 

OTHER RESOURCES

 

Recommended Reading:  Against All Hope by Richard Rohr O.F.M  Fr Richard introduces us to the transforming vision of Saint Francis in an age of anxiety. Written in 2001, Fr Richard’s work has much to say to us today when the virtue of hope is so desperately needed.

 

Recommended Podcast: Turning From Ego to Love – An Interview with Richard Rohr, O.F.M

In this episode, Bishop Curry talks with Richard Rohr, OFM, about what it takes to turn and follow a Christ as big as the universe, choosing the Way of Love instead of the ways of our egos. The two discuss the spiritualities of addition and subtraction and the consequences for our country and ourselves when we spend more time placing Jesus on a pedestal than we do actively following him. The good news in all of this is that, like Fr. Rohr and Bishop Curry, we are all called by Jesus to follow the Way of Love. With God’s help, we can turn from the powers of sin, hatred, fear, injustice, and oppression toward the way of truth, love, hope, justice, and freedom. It is this reorienting of our whole selves - body, mind, and soul - on the love and life of Jesus that leads us away from cynicism and into freedom.

 

 

 

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - Forgiveness_091425

Deacon Tom Writes,

Forgiveness

 

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

 

Syria, Iraq, Gaza, Somalia, Sudan and the Ukraine… are just a few of the places where violence rages on such an enormous scale. How are people who have seen and suffered such extreme suffering able to forgive those who have brought such pain and suffering into their lives?  How can man, women, and children whose memories are forever scarred by such violence able to put their lives back together and not follow the ancient paths of revenge and retaliation? Is it possible for such victims to forgive their oppressors in order to end the violence and not pass it on like a virus to future generations?  

 

The people of South Africa and Ireland seemed to have met with some success in ending the violence that destroys people and villages. In the case of South Africa ending apartheid, the legalized segregation of the population into black and white, was crucial in stopping the brutality. In the case of Ireland, years of economic domination gave way in the late 1980’s to a period of economic growth and stability that has been a significant factor helping build a bridge to a new error of peace and cooperation between former adversaries.

 

I don’t think we will ever understand the mystery of suffering, the suffering inherent in our humanity such as sickness and disease or the suffering that is the product of our human desires that causes and imposes suffering on others through war, poverty, physical / sexual / mental / substance abuse.  But I do think that we Christians have a unique way to view suffering, our own or the suffering of others… and that is through the prism of the Cross. If you look at Christ as the victim who represents all the victims who have ever suffered throughout time, before Him and after Him, then we can see in His death that there is no need for further victims. The message of the cross is this:  NO MORE VICTIMS.

 

This message has been slow to take root, but as fragile as that root may be, it is showing signs of life. For we could not experience the reconciliations that have happened in Ireland or in South Africa and in other places where former adversaries now live side by side, unless you have people living the message we hear today in our gospel, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.” We are called to love others as God loves us. This is the only way we will have a future. If we are not able to get beyond the violence, the violence WILL consume us. For Christians, violence stops at the cross.

 

This is the real Triumph of the Cross: that we are learning how to forgive others as Jesus did. May God give us the courage, strength, and wisdom to be quick to forgive those who injure us as we pray for an end to all activities that create victims.

 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom  

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com and listen in to hear some Catholic Deacons engage in a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold, those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it.

 

Other Resources

Recommended Reading: Give Us This Day – a daily devotional with the Scripture reading for the day, daily reflection and a brief look into the life of a saint or a person who lived a holy life. Available in paper or digital format from Liturgical Press.

 

Recommended YouTube: What is Spirituality and How Do We Study It by Dan Horan. In this Fall Lecture, which is part of the Center for the Study of Spirituality's 40th Anniversary Year Celebration, Prof. Daniel P. Horan, PhD, Director of the Center for the Study of Spirituality at Saint Mary's College, offers an introduction to the concept of spirituality, the specifics of Christian spirituality, and a survey of the academic discipline of spirituality studies

 

 

 

 

Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time_ The Cost of Discipleship_090725

 

Image Credit: Palamas Institute

Deacon Tom Writes,

The Cost of Discipleship

 

Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

Take up thy cross, the Savior Said

If thou wouldst my disciple be;

Deny thyself, the world forsake,

And humbly follow after me.

 

These words from an old hymn capture the essence of our Gospel today as we hear Christ tell us a difficult truth that in order to be an authentic disciple, we will have to put some “skin in the game” so to speak. Being a disciple of Christ will cost us some relationships, like those between a mother or father, a sibling or other close relative. Choosing to follow Christ can cost a job, lose some status, cause some sleepless nights and perhaps even some suffering and pain as we saw in the terrible tragedy in Minneapolis last week with the shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church.  The struggle between good and evil is everywhere around us. As people of faith we have to take a stand and when we do so because our lives have been shaped by the a Christian ethos, we are bound to suffer some form of rejection, just as Jesus did.

 

We have been listening to Luke’s gospels for a number of weeks now. He has been directing us towards a deeper relationship with Jesus by telling us to separate ourselves from the things of this world and to work for treasures that will last. Indeed, Luke urges us to set ourselves apart from all that would separate us from God.

 

I know that this is difficult to do. We live in the physical world and we work hard to gain the pleasures and comforts that it offers. Yet, we cannot lose focus on the spiritual realities that guide and govern our lives and lead us into the fullness of life that Christ promised us during this life no matter what state this life serves up to us. We who have been blessed with the good things of this life, like the Rich Man, cannot forget those who lack the basic necessities of life just because we are well fed and have a roof over our family. We cannot be insensitive to those who are refugees just because we are safe and sound here in our country or because we have the “right” citizenship. We cannot forget the lonely, the suffering, the addicted, and discouraged just because we are healthy, hopeful, befriended, and living the good life.

 

Taking up our crosses daily requires our willingness to surrender some of our creature comforts, some of our leisure time, and some of our self-centered way of thinking. We need to place an emphasis on our spiritual life and well being so that we may be sensitive to the needs of those who are less fortunate than we are. This death to self by loving and serving others as Christ did is the one sure way to begin a life in the spirit in order to grow in the awareness of the needs of those we are called to love and serve. Again, growing our spiritual lives is not an easy task but one that will have its own reward in this life and in the world to come.

 

 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com and listen in to hear some Catholic Deacons engage in a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold, those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it.

 

Recommended Reading: Blessed Solanus Casey Late Detroit priest Father Solanus Casey could become first U.S. born male to attain sainthood. Father Solanus Casey, a Catholic priest who served Detroiters from the St. Bonaventure monastery on the city’s east side, died in 1957 but many still feel the impact of his service. Casey was elevated to the status of Blessed by the Vatican in 2017 and he is one step away from being named a saint. Casey would become the first male born in the United States to attain sainthood. One Detroit’s Bill Kubota visited the Solanus Casey Center to learn about Casey’s life, legacy and potential elevation to sainthood. He talks with Brother Steven Kropp, Director of the Solanus Casey Center.

 

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - Musical Chairs_083125

Deacon Tom Writes,

Musical Chairs

 

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

The image Jesus often uses to describe the Kingdom of God is that of a banquet. Today is a good example of just that. Jesus is invited to a dinner party by one of the leading Pharisees. The Gospel opens by saying that … “people were observing him.” That’s an interesting use of words since what it really means is that “everybody” was watching him. That’s because Jesus is the outsider. He is the one that is not one of them. These other guests make up the power elite that keeps the system working …for them and to suit their purposes. Jesus is well aware of this and in turn he is observing them as well.

 

It is easy for Jesus to recognize the dynamics at work as the guests begin to be seated. Everyone wants the best seat in the house… at the head table. We can imagine many people lunging for a few seats, an ancient version of “musical chairs” …. with or without the music. Jesus completely understands that getting some form of recognition, even if it is only a better seat than someone else, is an absolute necessity for an immature and self-absorbed ego. And so, perhaps as the dinner guests are working their way to the head table, Jesus gives them a lesson on humility, on what it means to have a healthy, mature and appropriate understanding of who we are.

 

When we freed ourselves from all the demands of our egos, one of which Jesus describes for us today, only then are we able to enjoy genuine guest parties, where we invite our friends regardless of their ability to reciprocate. We are able to enjoy one another’s company because we no longer have to put ourselves above them or compete with them to satisfy our egos-needs.

 

The table fellowship that Jesus envisioned he has passed on to us in the gift of the Eucharist. Here at the table of the Lord we share in the Body and Blood of Christ and we become one in him, putting aside all that divides us… race, color, economic status, everything, even our pride and our egos. We come to the table of the Lord as we are… broken, sorrowful, hungry and longing to be nourished, healed and forgiven; and, we are humbled to discover that at God’s table…… there are plenty of seats for everyone!

 

 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

 

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com and listen in to hear some Catholic Deacons engage in a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold, those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it.

 

 

Recommended Reading:  Against All Hope by Richard Rohr O.F.M  Fr Richard introduces us to the transforming vision of Saint Francis in an age of anxiety. Written in 2001, Fr Richard’s work has much to say to us today when the virtue of hope is so desperately needed.

 

Recommended Podcast: Turning From Ego to Love – An Interview with Richard Rohr, O.F.M

In this episode, Bishop Curry talks with Richard Rohr, OFM, about what it takes to turn and follow a Christ as big as the universe, choosing the Way of Love instead of the ways of our egos. The two discuss the spiritualities of addition and subtraction and the consequences for our country and ourselves when we spend more time placing Jesus on a pedestal than we do actively following him. The good news in all of this is that, like Fr. Rohr and Bishop Curry, we are all called by Jesus to follow the Way of Love. With God’s help, we can turn from the powers of sin, hatred, fear, injustice, and oppression toward the way of truth, love, hope, justice, and freedom. It is this reorienting of our whole selves - body, mind, and soul - on the love and life of Jesus that leads us away from cynicism and into freedom.

 

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - On the Outside Looking In_082425

 Image Credit: Becky Johnson - - On the Outside Looking In - steel and glass

 

 

Deacon Tom Writes,

“On the Outside Looking In”

 

Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

 

Today we find the Lord busy gathering people from all the nations, bringing them from east and west, north and south to recline at his table. All are invited to the feast. All are welcomed to the celebration; no reservations are required! Jesus, however, indicates that we have to do a little more than show up ready to eat. We need to acknowledge the invitation we receive to participate in God’s kingdom by sending back the R.S.V.P. Yes, it seems that we have to act on our desire to participate in this wonderful banquet the Lord has prepared for us. And how, some may ask, are we to accomplish this? Simply by living good and wholesome lives, for when all is said and done, that is the way Jesus taught his disciples to follow, the same one he traveled.

 

It is so easy to say to ourselves that God loves us “Unconditionally” and then go on living lives unworthy of that love. Today’s gospel gives us cause to rethink that behavior. Jesus makes it clear that following him is difficult, therefore, the reference to the “narrow gate.” Those who are not “strong enough” to walk the narrow path, that is, those who live morally shallow or self-absorbed lives, find themselves “on the outside looking in” when it’s time to enjoy this great celebration the Master has prepared.

 

We all make choices to make in life, and all of those choices have consequences. We are so blessed to have the freedom to engage in virtually unlimited activity and to do pretty much as we please. With such great freedom, we run the risk of making the wrong choices and there can be dire consequences. Making bad choices that complicate our lives and create problems for ourselves and those we love is tragic enough. What about the choices we make that threaten our eternal life? The image Jesus presents today drives home that point effectively.

 

We don’t want to miss out on eternal life, as hard as that is for us to imagine living, as we do, in a physical, material world. But we do know that St. Paul tries to describe it for us when he says, “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him."     (1 Cor. 2:9)

 

If we could only live each moment of our lives as if the banquet of eternal life was to begin tonight, we would never have to worry about being on the outside looking in!

 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com and listen in to hear some Catholic Deacons engage in a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold, those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it.

 

OTHER RESOURCES

 

 

Recommended Reading: The Challenge of Jesus by N.T. Wright who explores the Jesus of history in order to deepen our faith and spiritual experience.     

 

Recommended YouTube Video: Contemplative Vision: Presentation One, Richard Rohr, Presented by Contemplative Outreach, this is the first main talk in an enrichment weekend by Fr. Richard Rohr and Fr. Thomas Keating, recorded Sept. 29, 2007 in Houston, TX.

 

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time_C - Between a Rock and a Hard Spot_081725

Deacon Tom Writes,

“Between a Rock and a Hard Spot!”

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

 

Jeremiah finds himself in a tight spot. He is accused of “demoralizing the soldiers who are left in the city.” The princes want to put him to death on the charge of...demoralizing the soldiers and all who remained in Jerusalem. Jeremiah, we know, is guilty as charged! And just what crime is Jeremiah guilty of? He disheartened the inhabitants of the city because he told them the Truth. He spoke the words that God wanted them to hear… that everyone who remained in the city would die. It seems that the false prophets, i.e., the liars, were telling the people that there was no need to worry, that everything would be fine; Jerusalem would be safe because their enemy would break off their siege and withdraw from the city. The false prophets were convincing because… the people wanted to believe them. They wanted to be lied to in order to keep the status quo and life as usual. The people wanted to continue on their evil ways; they wanted to ignore and shun the prophet Jeremiah because he spoke the Truth.

 

Well, as we read today, those who were unwilling to listen to the truth, i.e., God’s Word, toss Jeremiah into a dry cistern so that he would die. But God comes to his aid and Jeremiah is rescued and continues as God’s messenger to a reluctant people.

 

Today the Word of God remains unfashionable. We turn our backs on God in order to pay homage to the false prophets of our day who say all the right words that keep us snug and comfortable in the cozy world we have fashioned around us. God’s Word calls us out from our comfort zone so we can find “life in the fullest” just as Jeremiah struggled to encourage the people of his day to be faithful to God’s ways.

 

God’s Word is always relevant. It speaks to us today as it has to the people throughout the millennia. Who are the liars among us today? How are we to know “the Truth” about anything? The challenge for us is to discern what God is saying and then to live life that way. That’s how we will find true happiness in our troubled and chaotic world and dispense with the false prophets who would lead us astray from all that God has in store for those who love him.

 

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

 

Please Visit www.deaconspod.com and listen in as we hear some deacons engage in a contemporary conversation exploring the treasures our Catholic faith has to offer to those on the threshold, those thinking of joining our Catholic Community or walking away from it.

 

OTHER RESOURCES

 

Recommended Reading: Jesus Before Christianity by Albert Nolan OP. A 25^th anniversary revision to his originally published work in 1976, Fr Nolan introduces us to Jesus before he became the object of Christian faith, operating in history in a specific social context, addressing concrete hopes, and engaging in controversy and social conflict. Here is a man who was deeply involved with the real problems of his time--which turn out to be the real problems of our time, as well. As he writes, "God is speaking to us in a new way today. God is speaking to us in the events and problems of our time. Jesus can help us to understand the voice of Truth but, in the last analysis, it is we who must decide and act. This revision, again nearly twenty-five years old, is a convincing, eloquent and moving message for our distressed world.

To learn more about the work of Fr. Nolan OP see this article from the October 20,2022 in the National Catholic Reporter: Fr. Albert Nolan, South African theologian and anti-apartheid activist, dies at 88