15th October. Saturday, Week 28

Saint Teresa of Avila, memorial

1st Reading: Ephesians 1:15-23

May God enlighten your vision to see the hope you are called to

I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Gospel: Luke 11:47-54

In attacking Jesus, the Pharisees take sides with those who killed the prophets of old

Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors; for they killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ so that this generation may be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation. Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”

When he went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile toward him and to cross-examine him about many things, lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

The life-giving legacy of the martyrs

The theme of martyred prophets that was in the Gospel two days ago recurs in today’s Scriptures. When Paul wrote (in Romans) that “through his blood God made Christ the means of expiation for all who believe,” he meant that Christ’s death and resurrection have established a bond of life in all who believe in him. The focus of his attention is not on the death (though this crucial event is not overlooked), but on the new life which the risen Christ suffuses into our midst. In Ephesians this emphasis on the life-giving resurrection of Jesus is even stronger. It is God’s power set loose in the world when he raised Christ from the dead, to work its life-giving effect in us all.

Jesus mentions the blood of martyrs when arguing with Pharisees and lawyers, when he condemns them for putting up splendid monumental tombs over the graves of the prophets. Of course, it is not that he is opposed to honouring the prophets’ memory, as such. For Jesus, the best way to honour the dead is by continuing their life-work and imitating their concern for others, rather than by concentrating on their dead bones. The inspirational legacy of the martyrs is honoured whenever in our time we stand for God, and speak and work for the cause of justice, for other people’s human dignity.

We might also want to mention today, on the feast of their foundress, the quiet, loving dedication of the Carmelites to the contemplative life, and their great contribution to keeping the heart of our church fixed on God,

Teachers and learners

Jesus criticizes the lawyers, the experts in the Jewish Law, the Law of God, for taking away the key of knowledge. They have failed to come to know God themselves, as Jesus reveals Him, and have prevented others from coming to know God. Their calling was to be teachers of the ways of God, but they have not been true to that calling. Jesus himself was the key to the knowledge of God, because he reveals God more fully than any other human being could. In rejecting Jesus, the lawyers were taking away the key of knowledge, failing to recognize God at work in Jesus for themselves and not allowing others to discover God in Jesus either. God has given us the key to knowing him, by giving us Jesus. Jesus is the key to the knowledge of God, and we are all learners. Indeed, we will always be learners when it comes to God. The mistake is to think ourselves learned and clever when it comes to God. On the contrary we are more like infants, always having much to learn. Only if we recognize that will we come to know God more fully. That is why Jesus prayed a little earlier in Luke’s gospel, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the learned and the clever and have revealed them to infants.” [MH]

Saint Teresa of Avila, virgin and doctor of the Church.

Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada (1515-1582), was a Spanish Carmelite nun from Avila, a contemplative mystic, reformer and major figure in the Counter Reformation. Along with John of the Cross she founded the Discalced (or reformed) Carmelites. For her mystical writings she was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI in 1970.