When the days for Jesus to be taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and he sent messengers ahead of him. On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Saint Jerome, whose feast day we celebrate today, is one of the great heroes of the early Church. Born in the 4th century, he was raised in a Christian household, but did not take his faith seriously until he had a vision of himself standing before the judgment seat of Christ.
In the vision, Jesus accused him of being more committed to Western literature, in particular the works of Cicero, than to the Gospels. The vision struck Jerome to the heart.
Shortly thereafter, he withdrew to the desert in Palestine where he lived as a hermit for several years, learning Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament.
Finally, he was ordained a priest and quickly became the secretary to the pope. During that time, Jerome began the most important work of his life – translating the bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin.
A labor of love that took him 40 years to complete.
His translation of the scriptures into Latin remains the official text used by the Church today, as well as the foundation from which the Bible has been translated into countless other languages.
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In the year 410, Rome fell to the Visigoths, causing many Christians to flee the Holy Land.
Urged by charity, Jerome ended his solitary existence, put down his quill, and opened his heart and home to those in need. He’s remembered as saying, “Today we must translate the words of the Scriptures into deeds.”
He died ten years later in the cave he called his home. Christians have often depicted him in art seated, quill in hand, with a skull on his desk. That skull reminded him of the quick passage of time.
His life leaves us a few questions to ponder:
Like Jerome, do we study the Word of God? Are we responsive to the needs of others? Are we humble of heart, willing to change our ways in light of divine judgment?
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Saint Jerome, pray for us.
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Image credits: (1) Catholic News Agency (2) Saint Jerome, Caravaggio (3) Young Catholics
War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have salvation and power come, and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed. For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who accuses them before our God day and night. They conquered him by the Blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; love for life did not deter them from death. Therefore, rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them.”
The Word of the Lord.
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Growing up, my mother, brother, and I huddled together each week on the family couch to watch one of our favorite feel-good tv shows, “Touched by an Angel.”
Each episode included a person suffering for one reason or another, leaving them on the verge of despair.
Heeding their cries, the Lord sent an angel – veiled as a human being – to open their eyes, revealing how intimately God was working in their life, even in their suffering.
By the end of the show, the person was healed; a doubter came to faith; a broken heart found peace. Someone learned they were, “touched by an angel.”
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Throughout the bible, we see angels working in people’s lives.
In the Old Testament, the archangel Raphael serves as an agent of healing.
In the Gospels, the archangel Gabriel appears to Mary, telling her that she’ll bear the Son of God in her womb.
Shortly thereafter, an anonymous angel appears to Joseph in a dream, telling him that Mary’s pregnancy is, in fact, God’s will, softening his heart to welcome her into his home.
A second angel appears to Joseph in another dream, telling him to flee with Mary and Jesus from Palestine into Egypt as King Herod was trying to kill the Christ-child.
And, in the Book of Revelation, we read of the archangel Michael slaying Satan, casting him out of heaven forever.
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Today’s feast of the Archangels reminds us that God is still working in this world, even in our own lives.
But the “angels” we see are often veiled by flesh and blood; they are ordinary people like us willing to be God’s agents of grace.
When has someone been an “angel” for me? Or when have I felt God working through me as an angel for another?
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May the Lord use each of us today, allowing someone else to be touched by an angel.
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Image credits: (1) Touched by an Angel, Rotten Tomatoes (2) Archangel Michael Defeats Satan, Guido Reni (3) QuoteFancy
Jesus said to the Pharisees: “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’ Abraham replied, ‘My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.’ He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Many of you know, for the first three years I served as pastor of this parish, I wore a name tag every single day.
It hung above my heart, attached to a green lanyard with the three pillars of our mission statement printed on it: Building Community. Worshiping God. Making Disciples.
I wore it with intention. I wore it to show by example that we all enjoy being known by name. And we all want to feel welcome here.
Part of my inspiration came from the theme song of the tv sitcom Cheers: “Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came.”
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus offers a parable about a man named Lazarus. This is the only parable in all of the Gospels where Jesus gives someone a name.
The name, Lazarus, means, “God is my help.”
It seems like a paradox.
How can this beggar covered in ulcers, who is so weak that he cannot stop the street dogs from licking his wounds, bear a name like, Lazarus?
Although God delivers him from everlasting death and allows him to feast, not at an earthly table, but at his heavenly banquet, aren’t we left wondering:
“Where was God in this life? Was God deaf to his cries? Why did God allow Lazarus – who bore his name – to suffer torment?”
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Perhaps the Lord heard Lazarus loud and clear.
But the man whom God sent to answer his prayers – the man who had more than enough, who dressed in purple garments and fine linen, who ate sumptuously every single day – was indifferent to Lazarus’ suffering.
It’s a haunting truth.
Some – perhaps many – prayers go unanswered, not because God isn’t listening, but because the people whom God sends to help are busy, blind, or indifferent. As Saint Teresa of Avila once wrote, “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet, but yours.”
The first lesson in today’s Gospel parable is this: sometimes you and I are meant to be angels in disguise, the hands and feet of Christ.
A father may be the answer to his troubled son’s prayer.
A friend may be sent as God’s hidden voice of comfort.
A stranger may feed, clothe, or soothe someone in distress.
In some small way, God intends to use each of us to heal the bleeding and weeping of this world. But, unlike the rich man, our hearts must be softened by grace.
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This is why that anonymous glutton ends up in Hades. Not because he was rich. But because he was indifferent; he saw Lazarus suffer and did nothing. In fact, the rich man indicts himself while calling out to Abraham from the underworld.
“Father, Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue… Send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers so that he may warn them.”
By addressing both Abraham and Lazarus by name, the rich man admits that he has ignored the two fundamental pillars of religion: love of God and love of neighbor.
If this man knew of Abraham, then he knew of the God of Israel. And if he knew Lazarus by name, then he spoke with him at least once in life. Yet knowledge of neither provoked charity from his heart.
Amazingly, from the flames, the man’s perspective of Lazarus has not changed as he calls upon him to be his servant. “Cool my tongue… go tell my brothers.” But the rich man’s request for mercy is denied because he himself failed to show it.
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This provides a second lesson for us: whatever we ask of God, we should also be willing to extend to others. For example, how often do we pray for mercy, compassion, forgiveness, healing, or hope for ourselves?
While God eagerly desires to help, he will only do so for those who extend it to their neighbor. As Jesus says elsewhere, “Forgive and you will be forgiven… Do not judge and you will not be judged… Be merciful just as your heavenly Father is merciful.”
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My friends, “Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came.”
Here at St. Pius X, we’re not only glad you came, but we also recognize that God uses us as angels in disguise, sent to comfort “Lazarus” among us.
For whatever we do to each other, we do to Christ himself.
