02 October. Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr Martin Hogan’s book, To Know the Love of Christ, with homily reflections for 2017 will be very welcome to all our readers. Fr Martin has generously supplied weekday homily notes for this column, over the past two years. For more about his new book, click on the title Know the Love of Christ
1st Reading: Habbakuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4
When the prophet mourns injustice, God promises a day of justice
O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.
Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay. Look at the proud! Their spirit is not right in them, but the righteous live by their faith.
Second Reading: 2 Timothy 1:6ff
Like his teacher Paul, Timothy must make sacrifices for his ministry
For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God.
Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.
Gospel: Luke 17:5-10
Faith the size of a mustard seed can achieve great things
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
“Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’”
Learning a more robust faith
(José Antonio Pagola writes): Out of nowhere, the disciples put an important request to Jesus: «Increase our faith». On another occasion, they had asked him: «Teach us to pray». As Jesus uncovers God’s project for them and the task he wants to pass on to them, the disciples feel that it’s not enough to hold onto the faith that they have borne from childhood, if they want to respond to his call. They need a more robust and vigorous faith.
It’s now twenty centuries later. Throughout history, Jesus’ followers have maintained faithfulness to the Gospel over the years, as well as through dark hours of unfaithfulness. Times of strong faith and also of crisis and uncertainty. Don’t we need to once again ask the Lord to increase our faith?
Lord, increase our faith
- Teach us that faith isn’t about believing something, but about believing in you, incarnate Son of God, in order to open us to your Spirit, to let us grasp your Word, to learn to live with your style of life and to follow closely your footsteps. You alone can «begin and fulfill our faith».
- Give us a faith that is centered on what’s essential, purified of false attachments and additions that lead us far from the nucleus of your Gospel. Teach us to live our faith in our times today, not based on external supports, but based on your living presence in our hearts and in our believing communities.
- Make us live a more vital relationship with you, knowing that you, our Teacher and Lord, are what’s first, what’s best, what’s the most valuable and attractive part of our Church. Give us a contagious faith that directs us toward a new phase of Christianity, one that is more faithful to your Spirit and to your path.
- Make us live identified with your project of God’s Reign, collaborating realistically and convincingly in making life more human, as the Father wants. Help us to live our faith humbly and with passion for God and compassion for human beings.
- Teach us to live converted to a more evangelical life, without resigning ourselves to a watered-down Christianity where the salt has gone insipid and where the Church is strangely losing her quality of leaven. Awaken among us the faith of witnesses and prophets.
- Don’t let us fall into a Christianity without the cross. Teach us to discover that faith doesn’t consist in believing in the God that we want, but in the One that strengthens our responsibility and develops our capacity to love. Teach us to follow you, taking up our cross each day.
- May we experience you arisen in our midst, renewing our lives and breathing life into our communities.
Background to the homily: a personal biblical culture
Kieran O’Mahony notes how “This week, our second reading is from 2 Timothy. The topic, typical of the Pastorals, is the preservation of what has been received, that is, the faith. .. All three readings focus on faith: the gap between believing and reality, the need to hold on to the faith and finally the urgent desire for an increase of faith. Questions spring up spontaneously: What do I believe? In whom who I trust? How to I sustain my faith? How do I, as a believer, see the new few years?”
For each Sunday, he provides thoughtful exegetical notes on the Scriptures. For this week’s example, click here. His Audio file of the Gospel is on soundcloud.com. His notes are not intended directly to help with the homily. “Instead, they serve two purposes which come before homily preparation. The first purpose is to invite readers to pray the readings—lectio divina if you will. When the word has spoken deeply to me, then I will indeed have something to say. The second purpose is to nourish the personal biblical culture of the readers. In other words, the notes are intended as a kind of on-going education, leading to greater familiarity with the biblical tradition and, I hope, to increased skill in reading the bible responsibly, critically and for faith.”
Lord, increase our Faith
“Lord increase our faith,” the apostles ask of Jesus. Elsewhere their request is, “Lord teach us how to pray” (Lk 11:1). In essence both refer to the same thing. For to pray is to focus the heart on God, to love and trust God, to have faith in God’s concern for us. Every prayer is an act of faith in God, and conversely every we turn to God in faith, we are praying. It is no more possible to have faith without prayer than to swim without water. But we must try to pray to God in the right spirit. For often we are trying to bring God around to our way of thinking rather than putting our thoughts under God’s guidance.
Sometimes perhaps, we regard prayer as a kind of magical last resort, worth a try when all else fails. There is a story about a lawyer walking along a street with a friend who was something of a scholar. When they came to a ladder leaning over the sidewalk and against a house which was being painted, the friend refused to pass under it. “Surely you don’t believe in that superstition, said the lawyer. “No, I don’t exactly believe in it,” was the reply, “but I never waste a chance of avoiding an accident.” Well, maybe that’s how some of us approach prayer. We don’t strongly believe in it, but we admit the possibility that it might work, as a last resort. So we could join in that request, “Lord, increase our faith; Lord, teach us how to pray.”
Jesus did not just teach his friends how to pray, he showed them how, bhis own y example. Never did any human being pray as he did. Even in the middle of a sermon he would turn to God and address him as Father. Early in the morning he would steal away to the hillside, his favourite place for quiet prayer. It was his custom, whenever he visited Jerusalem, to pray at night in the Garden of Gethsemane, so his being there on the night of his arrest was not unusual. On that occasion we know that “being in anguish he prayed the longer.” What he prayed that night is clearly reported. “Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, let your will, not mine be done” (Lk 22:42f). Well, the Father did not take away the cup of suffering from Jesus. But by embracing the will of God, something greater was to follow for Jesus, his resurrection from the dead. “Unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain” (Jn 12:24).
The letter to the Hebrews sums it up: “During his life on earth, he offered prayer and petition, aloud and in silent tears, to the one who had the power to raise him from the dead, and he submitted so humbly that his prayer was heard.” May God grant that our prayer may be heard also, and that being guided through life by the spirit of Jesus we may be in his company for ever in heaven.
If they could see me now
“If they could see me now!” Have you ever found yourself wondering what your parents or friends would think of you if they were present at this or that encounter in your life, whether generous or mean. Many feel this need to be seen by others, especially for appreciation or praise. It can reach the stage when no worthy action is done for its own sake; unless there’s an audience of some kind to give us credit, we hardly think it worthwhile. How easy it is to dress up things with a superficial cosmetic of virtue, “in order to be seen by men?” Yet only God sees the heart and knows the motive.
Certainly the opinions of others matter. But what counts in the long run is how our God sees us, not mere “opinion,” but God’s unerring vision, compassionate yet total. Nothing compares with that judgment. The basic question is this: have you been faithful in serving? Because of fidelity, the righteous will live. Life in God’s friendship, the state of grace, does not depend on social stature or reputation, but on a secret, inner quality. As St. Paul says, one cannot even fully judge oneself. Upon this profound question of righteousness, we can only trust in God’s mercy, while making an honest effort to serve Him. Then the principle will apply: for the one who loves God, all things work together unto good.
Unprofitable servants? A better word might be ordinary. The servants had done their duty, which was what could be expected of them. Too often we Christians take a casual attitude towards the service of God. We treat prayer as a casual option, the commandments as a burden and restriction to be periodically neglected, and works of charity as a rare event for which should expect congratulations. But if we take the words of Christ to heart, we would regard all these things as normal service. The standards he sets are much higher than those we habitually live by. What a new complexion things would have if we all became willing servants towards God, doing each ordinary thing according to His will.
But who will get us started? If I decided to do things simply for God’s approval, would I not be exploited and despised by others? So, while I’m taken by the ideal, I won’t commit until others adopt the same spirit of social responsibility. The rat-race is nobody’s fault, and yet it’s everybody’s. The change to a new spirit of mutual service can only begin when individuals embrace this ideal for its own sake. “Ask not what your country can do for you.
Ultimately, this is the way to salvation. The just person shall live by fidelity. When all of life’s days have been lived, and the Master comes to judge our individual performance, only those who have given generous service will feel at home in his company. And then we will realize that this was the right way to live in God’s sight “Well done good and faithful servant,” God will say; and we will answer simply it was no more than our duty.”
Not pay-back time
(Brian Gleeson writes): We are living in worrying times. While rightly rejecting terrorism, we too are vulnerable to attacks, not only with conventional weapons but also with germ and chemical warfare. Some of Habbakuk’s words in our First Reading speak strongly to our shared situation. Feeling helpless in the face of danger, the prophet’s prayer is full of frustration. The prophet is totally frustrated that God has not stepped in to stop all his people’s anxiety and fear. So loud groaning and lament run through his prayer: ‘How long, Lord, am I to cry for help while you will not listen; while I cry to you of oppression and you will not save? … Outrage and violence, this is all I see…’
In reply, God gives the prophet a simple message, which turns out to be much the same message that Jesus gives us today in his parable about the master and the servants. ‘No matter what happens, don’t lose hope. Keep on doing the right thing. Keep on being faithful to God in what you do for others.’ Just like those heroic fire fighters and police in New York on that terrible day known to the world now as ‘9/11’ – who deliberately went into those burning buildings to rescue people trapped there, and for their bravery some of them paid the ultimate price, losing their precious lives.
We face a frightening dilemma: – How to stop and how to prevent the lethal attacks from cells of terrorists operating in many countries, without wiping out whole populations? Is going to war the answer? And if it is, are there any moral limits to waging war? Under what conditions can a war on terror be just, in Christian terms? Do those conditions exist in the current situation? Or is more to be gained by a deliberate policy of non-violence–the kind of policy led by Mahatma Gandhi for freeing India from British rule? Remember too that a non-violent policy for equal civil rights was successfully pursued by black people in the USA? After the first Gulf War, the Pope (St John Paul II) commented: ‘[it] leaves behind a trail of resentment and hatred that makes it all the more difficult to find a solution to the very problems that provoked the war’. I’m reminded of the words of Jesus, who taught non-violence, that sooner or later those who use the sword will be destroyed by the sword (Mt 12:52).
The first Christians were forbidden to take part in war. One reason was that killing, even of an aggressor, violated the command of Jesus to love enemies. It also violated the NT teaching to overcome evil with good. After the year 381 when the Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the state religion, things began to change. Christians ceased to be pacifists. In the early 400s St Augustine taught that violence could be an act of Christian love if it was necessary to protect one’s neighbour from unjust harm, and especially the weak and the innocent. In the 1100’s St Thomas Aquinas built on the teaching of Augustine and contributed to what is known today as ‘the just war theory’.
We need to face the fact that for many years now there has been strain and some breakdown in the relationship between the Western world and the Arab world. What on earth was going on in the minds of the terrorists of that 9/11 wickedness to inflict such horrific and inexcusable atrocities on thousands of innocent people peacefully going about their lives and work? Perhaps some sense of insult and injustice felt by the terrorists might be part of the answer.
Now to ask this question is not to take a ‘Blame the victim!’ approach. What I am suggesting is that retaliation, revenge, and all-out, unrestricted war on terrorism will not work effectively and permanently to bring about all-round justice. There must be conversation and dialogue with those people in the Middle East and with their leaders, who correctly or incorrectly, are feeling that the West in general has done them wrong. And if, when and where it is clearly established that wrongs have been inflicted by either side, those wrongs must be admitted, and then made right as soon as possible..
This whole matter, of course, is terribly complex. So for a just, peaceful and lasting solution, let us cry out to the Lord, both here at this Eucharist and at all other times, words of groaning and words of lament, including these we find in one of the Psalms, ‘How long, O Lord, how long, before you hear and heed your people’s pleas?’