Lk 19:1-10 The Untold Story

Tuesday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
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By. FATHER ALFONSE NAZZARO

Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town.  Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was... So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way.

Conversion stories are the best stories!  They are full of God-awful things, God-inspiring things and God-awesome things. 

God awful.  We all know the following bible verse from Revelation.  It's famous for being so direct:  "I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot.  I wish you were either cold or hot.  So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth."

Every morning I see the same people attending Mass.  I see them sitting in the same place in the church. 

They have their pew. 
They have their routine. 
They have their way.

There is no doubt in my mind they love the Lord, for they serve, read and pray at Mass reverently.  They even arrive on time periodically, something I always struggle to do!!! 

But are they  - we - me - doing the best to fill up the pews?  Are they - we - me - inviting others to break bread in the house of the Lord?  This is so important.  Why?  Because it creates momentum and enthusiasm!

Conversion stories create missionaries and missionaries create enthusiasm, and the momentum from the two gets the heart and soul and mind and body pumping!

Zacchaeus meets Jesus Christ.    "Come down from that tree!..." and face the world, my friend. 

Zacchaeus wouldn't dare ask the taller people to get out of the way for him or to make an opening for him.  They would have spit on his face!  So what did the short fella do?  He climbed up a tree, and the Lord noticed him.  Actually, he noticed his curiosity, enthusiasm and determination. 

What happened next shocked the hell out of the crowd:  "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house."

What???  Wait???  What did He do???  Did you hear that?  Did Jesus just invite himself over to the house of a sinner, a horrible sinner with poor odds of ever changing???

I can't believe it...
but it's true. 

I can't believe Him...
but He is the Truth.

What Jesus did the U.S. Military would have called "shock and awe!"

At times, I feel like we, Catholics, have a fortress mentality, the kind of strategy that ends with a slaughter! 

And have no doubts about it:  we are getting slaughtered! 

Our families are getting slaughtered!  Our children are getting slaughtered!  Our way of life is getting slaughtered.  Our beliefs are getting slaughtered. 

For goodness sake!  Have we forgotten how to be missionaries and break the siege?  Have we forgotten how to shock and awe our adversaries?  I think we have, for we are neither hot nor cold but just plain...blah! 

Look here.  Jesus was a fanatic!  Not the ISIL type - God forbid! - but the Holy type:  the one who never writes off people. 

Jesus knew who to invite:  the least likely to succeed. 
He knew who to dine with:  the least likeable people. 
He knew who to interact with:  the untouchables, the unforgiverable[s] and the undesirables. 

Christ knew how to create drama; that is, staged drama with real life actors.  He knew who to pick as His stars, not because He had some sort of insider knowledge, but because He looked for those individuals who thought the least of themselves, or who thought that God thought the least about them! 

This time the star was Zacchaeus.
And the crowd booed! 

The people didn't like it.  They didn't like it at all.  Jesus was no people pleaser, like the Pharisees or the scribes or anyone who claims to be the sole defender of Catholicism! 

So they began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner." 

Could this day have gone any better for the Lord?  It was soooo perfect!!!  

Before Jesus could defend his actions, Zacchaeus chimed in and created more shock and awe:  "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over."

WHAT???  IS THIS GUY KIDDING???

That evening, Zacchaeus sat down with the Lord and His disciples and they heard his story, his life story.  All the God-awful things he had done; all the God-inspiring things he had done; and all the God-awesome things he and the Lord had done.

One more seat just got filled in the pews.  And it was on a weekday. 

Talk to anti-Catholics with love.  Write to the outcasts with compassion.  Make friends with sinners.  Invite someone you know that needs to go to Mass, even to the 6:30 am Mass!  They may end up hating you or loving you, but I guarantee you they won't feel lukewarm about you. 

Lk 18:35-43 The Dumb Question

Monday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
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By KIM ELENEZ

Many of you probably grew up in a Catholic house. Lots of family, life structured in and around the church. Someone, a parent perhaps, taught you how to read a hymn and what to do during mass. I did not. I grew up in a loving home, although church was not a part of our lives. We celebrated Christmas and Easter, which were each more a celebration of gift giving than of God’s majesty. Please don’t feel bad for me. The good part was ahead.

 

As Jesus approached Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging, and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”

 

In today’s gospel, we hear the story of the blind man who’s faith saved him. I love this story! For I, too, was the blind one. For years I sat on the side of the road, asking myself “where are all these people going?”. Puzzled I would do my best to watch and see, but I was blind. I was too proud and insecure to inquire about what was happening. So instead, I walked around thinking I would fake until I make it. Surely I can figure out where all these people are going if I just observe enough!

 

I was afraid to ask the simplest question, because if I did they would know that I didn’t have the answer. My ignorance would expose me. I would be embarrassed and ashamed. Little did I know that this dumb question was the single most important question any human can ask, because the answer will save your life. The answer is Jesus Christ.  Such a simple question with a simple answer, yet so complex for our human brains.

 

He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” The people walking in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me!” Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”

 

I went on like this for years, playing with various non-Catholic churches on my own, until my husband introduced me to Catholicism. There I learned that not only is it important to ask questions, but it is our duty to do so as we glorify God. The Catholic Church has given us the gift of the Catechism, so all these questions have a resource. It can be heady stuff, but it’s all right there. I recently heard a speaker refer to the Catechism as a guidebook for humans. Yep, sounds right.

 

Jesus had been in my life all my life, but I refused to humble myself to see Him there. My lack of education and abundance of pride and insecurity kept me from asking and re-asking those people the question – what is happening over there?

 

Please keep this in mind when talking to your non-Catholic or fallen-away Catholic friends and family. They simply don’t know what’s happening; they are blind. And don’t think that just giving them the Catechism will do the job. More likely they will need to personally experience Christ, then they will be able to appreciate the comfort of all that He teaches.

 

And don’t be afraid to ask the dumb questions for yourself (hint: the old saying is true, there are no dumb questions!). Humble yourself and put your vulnerability on the line. Because once we do, perhaps we will starting asking the really good questions like - “what do you want me to do for you, Lord?”.

 

 

 

This meditation was written by Kim Elenez, wife, mother and media executive in Raleigh, NC. Kim converted to Catholicism in 2012.

Lk 18:35-43 What Do You Want From Me?

Monday of the Thirty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
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By KATIE GROSS

As Jesus approached Jericho

a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging,

and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening.

They told him,

“Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”

He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”

The people walking in front rebuked him,

telling him to be silent,

but he kept calling out all the more,

“Son of David, have pity on me!”

I have to admit that when I read this reading, I was stumped. How could I be stumped, you may ask? This is such an exciting part of the Bible—a miraculous healing! A poor man, spared against all odds and against public opinion! Nevertheless, I couldn’t think of which angle to take. It wasn’t “clicking” with me, and meanwhile, Father’s blog post loomed large at the bottom of my Sunday homework pile, the entire pile remaining untouched until the last minute (although, let’s be serious, that’s not unusual). Anyway, I decided to ask some of my youth group friends tonight, and of course, they gave me something good right away. One of my friends asked the best question I had heard—“Why did Jesus ask the blind man what he needed if he clearly knew all along? What is that supposed to mean?” That was gold!!!

What do you want me to do for you? That is a great question that my friend posed. Why does Jesus, the all-knowing King of heaven and earth, have to ask this question to the blind man?

I went to a baptism this morning of one of my family members. The whole event had me reflecting on my own baptism all day. What a great gift, to be received into the Church and adopted as one of God’s children! Baptism is a great gift that God wants to give us—He wants to take us in as a member of His family and cleanse us of our sin. When my friend posed this question to me about Jesus asking questions, the words from the baptismal liturgy rang in my head: “What do you ask of God’s Church?” Imagine-- Well, I don’t know, Father So-and-so, I just walked in this church all dressed up with my extremely loud, Italian extended family for some good fun, and I dressed my infant (who always manages to make a mess of their clothing) in a white dress just for the thrill of it. But I don’t know what I ask of God’s Church. Sassy, maybe, but it proves my point. This question in Baptism is seemingly easily answered. Why do we ask it, then?

Or, consider some stories from the Bible (this is coming right out of my theology class—another case of great timing for this blog post). When Adam and Eve commit the world’s first sin, why does God question them about it? He knows full well what they did, but still he asks them, “Where are you? Why are you hiding? What have you done?” Why does He ask questions that He knows the answer to? Or consider Cain and Abel! “Where is your brother?"

Another story on this topic. This is a story that I told the freshman from my high school on their retreat this year. Shortly after I entered Catholic schools, I was presented the opportunity to go to Confession for the first time in a very long time. I had been one of those hyper-intellectual, rebellious children who are crazy in their own mind but yet not daring enough to get in any serious trouble—I am sure you know one. Still, there were a lot of things to confess. Of course, I was the last one in line because I nearly chickened out. The class period ended right before I was supposed to go, and I thought that was my ticket out, but then my theology teacher came to me and asked, “Katie, the priest is willing to stay for you. Do you still want to confess?” Ugh!!!! I was all the more petrified that I had to verbally commit to going, but thanks be to God I said yes. I have no doubt that God placed that question there for a purpose. Why would he ask, though, if He knew the intentions of my heart?

Another consideration-- have you ever gone through a rough patch in your spiritual life that seemed to never end until you finally realized you were the one at fault? Maybe you weren’t praying enough. Maybe you had stumbled into some fault unknowingly. Then, God made you realize what you were doing wrong through some kind of prompting that He placed in your life or on your heart. Why did God make you wait to realize what you were doing wrong? Why did God make you experience the sting of realizing that you were at fault?

Back to the central question: Why does God ask us questions or prompt us if He knows what is on our hearts?

Lord, please let me see. God asks us questions because He wants us to have to express our need for Him. He wants us to verbally confess our sins and shortcomings, to ask him for help, to acknowledge that we are in need of Him. If God were to come and fix everything in our lives without letting us see and acknowledge our need for Him, how would we learn? In Baptism, we acknowledge our need of the sacrament as powerless children in need of salvation. In Confession, we come before a priest in humility and acknowledge our sins to God, who already knows them fully. In the same way, God questioned Adam and Eve and Cain because He wanted them to fully own up to what they had done. We are the ones who need to actively confess our need and acknowledge our limitations. God reaches out to us in more ways than we will ever be able to realize on this Earth—it is only fitting that God prompts us to reach out to Him in our walk with Him.

Let’s pray that this week we will be aware of the questions and promptings of God in our lives.

Mt 25:14-30 Investments and Returns

Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
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Jesus told his disciples this parable:  "A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them.  To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one --to each according to his ability.  Then he went away.  Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five...But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master's money."

Going deeper.  This Gospel passage is often used for capital campaigns or to stimulate some sort of financial giving.  If the Lord has blessed you with financial success, then please give more.  But if we stayed at this level, I believe we would be missing out on the value of parables.  Parables allow people to go deeper.  

So why this parable, and why was it directed to the Apostles?  I believe it was because the Apostles were complaining.  Why did you pick us?  We are nothings.  We are nobodies.  We have no power, no position, no authority.  We count for nothing in this world.  What do you expect from us?  How in the world can we possibly help YOU?

Do you ask the same questions?  Ask no more.  You're worth more to the Lord than you think.  It's time to invest in your faith.

Investments and returns.  Did you hear about the two young ladies who ran in a state cross country meet and were disqualified for helping another girl (her opponent) finish the race?  

Two high school runners in Minnesota have been disqualified in the state girls cross country meet for helping an opponent who fell. 

Senior Kailee Kiminski and junior Tierney Winter, forfeited the race last weekend after assisting freshman Jessica Christoffer cross the finish line. 

All three were disqualified due to a high school league rule prohibiting the assistance of another runner.

"I just got tired and I fell, and it wasn't good, and then there were two girls that helped me... helped me finish and it was really nice of them," Christoffer told KEYC-TV.  "I'm really thankful for them.  It means a lot to me..."

Winter said she had no choice when seeing Christoffer fall just 50 meters from the finish line.  "I couldn't leave her there...I was like, I'll help her out and we'll see what happens...I wouldn't want to be left out there if it was me, so I just thought of myself there, too."

"I wouldn't want to be left out there if it was me, so I just thought of myself there, too."  That sounds familiar.  "Treat others the way you want to be treated" (cf. Lk 6:31).   "I was a stranger and you invited me in" (cf. Mt 25:35).

I find it eerie how the young lady's name is "Christoffer."  Don't you?  Oh well, we all know that our faith will, at times, "disqualify" us from this twisted world's bent-out-of-shape rules.  But like these two young runners, we shouldn't fear the Lord's golden rule of self sacrifice, for we know where that leads to on earth and in heaven. 

Do you know who won the race that day?  I don't.  In fact, it's hard to tell.  It seems like the winner did not get as much press coverage as the disqualified.  Apparently, the media outlets know a good story when they see it.  Actually, we all know a good story when we see it.  And Christ is that GOOD NEWS!

Long ago, these two young runners invested in their faith.  The returns are just now coming in.

The Twelve.  It must have taken a while for the Twelve to realize their worth in the Lord, and how the Lord was investing in them.  Sure they had their doubts in Christ, but their biggest doubts were in themselves.  Can we blame them?  Their family and friends had written them off.  But the Apostles noticed a pattern.  Throughout His life the Lord constantly invested His time, miracles and efforts with people of little-to-know economic, political or military prowess. 

To the Lord, it didn't matter what they were.  What mattered most was faith in God, not faith in themselves.

I know a lot of people who are careful in picking their friends.  They are fools!  Don't be fooled.  Invest in everyone.  As a priest, I have learned to invest my time with the sick and the healthy, the young and the elderly, the rich and the poor.  I need all of them more than they need me.  I need those who are better than me as much as I need those who are not better than me. 

I need them all and so do you.  They help us to grow, to be better.

God has given us some amazing treasures like faith, family and friends.  What we do with these will help us (and others) to grow.

We must seriously invest before we can hope to see any serious returns. 

3Jn 5-8 The Scientific Method of Faith

Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
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By JENNIFER BURGIN

Beloved, you are faithful in all you do for the brothers and sisters, especially for strangers; they have testified to your love before the Church.  Please help them in a way worthy of God to continue their journey. For they have set out for the sake of the Name and are accepting nothing from the pagans. Therefore, we ought to support such persons, so that we may be co-workers in the truth.

Today, we celebrate the memorial of St. Albert the Great:  Universal Doctor of the Church, Bishop, and Patron Saint of Scientists.  I first learned about this brilliant German while pursuing my biology and chemistry degree at Texas A&M.  I adopted him as my career patron saint, mesmerized by his scientific genius.  While in college, I was in a "religious denomination hopping" phase.  Looking back I think St. Albert the Great influenced my final decision to become Catholic!

St. Albert believed science was an important avenue for God's creation, and the "experiment" an integral method for new discoveries.   As a Dominican, he became a co-worker in the Truth, blending together the truths of science and the Christian faith through logic and reason.

 In his treatise "The Compound of Compounds" Albert the Great wrote:

.....What worth is a concealed science; what worth is a hidden treasure? ....Every science and knowledge proceeds from God.  Saying it proceeds from the Holy Ghost is a simple way of expressing oneself.  No one can thus say Our Lord Jesus Christ without implying Son of God our Father, by work of the grace of the Holy Ghost.  In the same manner, this science cannot be separated from the One who has communicated it unto me.

St. Albert, as a prolific author, wrote over 38 volumes on a variety of subjects including physical geology, biology, zoology, chemistry, astronomy, botany and mineralogy. He proved the earth is round; classified many types of botanical material; and even dabbled in alchemy.  When he wasn't traveling as a preacher he taught at universities across Europe.  His most well-known pupil of all time is Saint Thomas Aquinas.  Interesting St. Albert outlived Thomas Aquinas way into his 80's. Toward the end of Albert's life, his genius suddenly failed.  Tradition describes how the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Albert as a youth, promising him vast intellectual expertise if he persevered in God's work.  However, she warned that such knowledge would vanish in old age.

The Scientific Method of Faith   How can we use the scientific method to grow spiritually?  Our faith development goes through a process similar to a lab experiment.  Spiritual growth involves questioning why faith in God is important; how we can remain steadfast in the faith; and by what means faith is best expressed. It involves trial and error to see what works and what does not in our spiritual journey. We analyze our fruits of contemplation, regularly examining the conscience, to see if we are living moral lives. We experience spurts of growth followed by periods of dryness; however, with each new "faith discovery" we bind intimately with Christ, more fully aware of his presence in our everyday lives.

 Here's a "scientific method of faith" we can use in response to our call to be Christian witnesses:

1. Question our faith and immediate threats to the faith.

2. Research our faith and become knowledgeable of holy scripture, the Catechism, andChurch teachings.

3.  Explain and propose sound reasoning behind our faith when challenged (i.e. apologetics).

4.  Test our faith and discover new ways we can better connect with God and others.

5.  Analyze our faith and recognize our strengths and weaknesses.

6.  Evangelize the faith!

Coworkers in the Truth When we evangelize, we become coworkers in the Truth.  We may think it's up to our priests, bishops, and the Vatican to keep Catholics spiritually nourished and satisfied.  But, the responsibility also lies within lay communities.  We work together for the glory of God using our talents to spread the message of the Truth.  It's vital we support one another.

Unfortunately, people always have some sort of "problem" with the Church.  They don't like an arrogant pastor.  They feel rejected because they are divorced or single with children.  Maybe they are simply tired of the Church "meddling" in their bedrooms. 

 Let's do a little experiment, shall we?  The next time we feel the desire to complain about the Church, her teachings, or even other parish members, take a moment to think about Jesus Christ hanging on the cross.  He died a painful and horrific death for our salvation.  Sometimes our own personal grievances against the Catholic Church are relatively minor compared to Christ's suffering and death. 

When we intelligently question Church teachings that confuse us, and research into why the Church believes things a certain way, we will better understand our faith.  Then, we can pass along the insight to others. 

Don't be afraid to be coworkers in the Truth despite the challenges religious faith presents.  

Saint Albert the Great, Pray for us! 

This meditation was written by Jennifer Burgin.  She is a Lay Dominican candidate associated with St. Albert the Great Dominican Priory in Irving, Texas. Please follow her blog:  Jennifer's Spectrum of Spirituality

Lk 18: 1-8 Pray!

Saturday of the Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
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By SOPHIE DRUFFNER

“Pray always without becoming weary.”

Last spring I joined many prolifers in front of the Southwestern Women’s Surgery Center to pray for the lives of the children which had ended there, and the lives of the mothers, scarred forever. About thirty minutes later, twenty or so teens showed up with signs depicting bloody coat-hangers and started yelling at our group across the street. I looked at their faces. We were perhaps two hundred and they twenty, but they had no idea how much fear I was feeling at that moment. What had I done to hurt them, to cause them this unrestrained anger? Only existed, only prayed.
 

If I had seen them at Walmart, I would have smiled at them. Maybe I had met one of them at soccer camp when I was seven, or maybe one of them had sat across from me in Social Studies class in sixth grade. Perhaps we would have been friends if we had been in another time and place. But that day, they only caused me fear.

It was hard to stand, listening to them. I heard their ignorance in their yells and their hatred in their signs. I knew that they had probably never seen the facts, the statistics, the pictures. They had only had the rhetoric and faulty logic that they had been provided, and had I had the same experience as them, I would have thought the same. But for the grace of God, there am I.
 

“Pray always without becoming weary.” It was hard to stand, and I sank to my knees. The sidewalk provided the support I needed. Around me, adults, children, and teens did the same. And there was true strength in our action.

The Judge.It takes real strength to kneel when no one is kneeling, to pray for the person who hates you because you stand for something. It takes strength to keep asking God for compassion and love, and to remember what Jesus said about our actions on the cross: “They know not what they do.” It often seems that God, just like the judge in the Gospel, doesn’t listen, and our petitions to him are in vain. Miracles are things that happen to other people, and to some of us, God is always “sleeping in.”
 

But I know that he isn’t. He isn’t “sleeping in” or just paying attention to those sparrows he cares so much for because he helps me choose the right words and ace my schoolwork. He made sure I had a sandwich and apple in the car when I saw the homeless man on the street corner. He helped me smile at people I don’t normally smile at, and His love and infinite forgiveness helps me to know that I am safe to confess every last sin in confession. God isn’t my little “helper,” like an elf on my shoulder; instead, he’s my partner, my partner in love for seventeen years.  

And it takes real strength that I rarely have to know that God is there, helping you, loving you, when you see the actions of His Children, still his Children even when we disobey, when we turn on him and forget him. We are not children in the scope of our actions, for few children can build weapons enough to wipe out countries. But we are his children in the origin of our actions, in our pettiness, jealousy, and greed. We are his children because we carry that divine spark that makes us like our Father. We are children because we do not think about our actions or words enough. We must remember that we are only children so that we will have the strength to keep coming back to the good judge again and again, knowing that there is hope for the human race.We must remember that eventually, on Earth or in Heaven, all God’s children will grow up.

Sophie Druffner is a remarkable young lady.  She is a gifted musician and senior at John Paul II Catholic High School. 

Lk 17:26-37 Vultures and Paradoxes

Friday of the Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
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Jesus said to his disciples: "As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all."

The Rapture.  Jesus said to his disciples: "I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken, the other left."  Does this sound spooky to you?  It doesn't to me.  In fact, it sounds kind of boring.

For some strange reasons Protestants love to talk about the rapture.  They have written far too many books about it and produced far too many movies portraying it.  They think it's all interesting and "cool."  The way I look at it, it's too showy and too anticlimactic.  To concentrate strictly on the rapture is like reading the ending of a novel, first, without having read the book from cover to cover.  Protestants consider this part to be the most interesting part.  I find it to be not interesting at all.  I could care less how everything comes to an end.  I just want to make sure that it ends well for me and for all my loved ones!  I'm more interested in knowing more and more my part - the middle part - in the story of salvation.

Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.  Some people love to use people.  The elderly are constantly being bombarded by phone calls stating that they have won a million dollars or something.  The young are constantly being bombarded with the latest and greatest gadgets.  The poor are constantly being used for political gain.  The rich are constantly targeted by political opportunists.  Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather. 

There is no escaping vultures.  As long as we have breath, we will have vultures surrounding us.  The famous have vultures.  They're called paparazzi.  Criminals have vultures.  They're called journalists.  Victims have vultures.  They're called ambulance chasers.  Even the dead have vultures.  They're called undertakers.

Where the body is, there also the vultures will gather.

This is a warning by the Lord.  Watch out.  Stay on track.  Be vigilant.  Do not be deceived.  Unfortunately, there are some people who make it a living to feed off of others.

Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it.   This is Christian physics.  It's similar to Christ's first law of Christian physics:  The more you give, the more you receive.

Life isn't about comfort.  It's not even about getting more and more things.  It's about giving what you have...and more.  It's about putting other people first and observing how they put you first.  This is not a trick.  This is not a joke.  This is reality.

This is all sound advice coming from the Lord, for it has been tried and tested.  The Lord tried it out for himself and can all see the results of it.

Vultures will always circle far above, but our Lord's firm advice will make sure they stay there.