Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay each one according to his conduct.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Our faith is filled with paradoxes.
Jesus teaches us that the only way up is down; that the hungry, poor, and persecuted are blessed; that in our weakness, his power is made strong; that his yoke is light, even though he bleeds and dies upon a cross; that in giving our own life away, we save it.
As he says in today’s Gospel, “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it.”
To the world, this is an absurdity.
Christ’s words will never make sense without faith. Christians must contemplate them, dig deeply into them in prayer, and put them into practice before we discover that these teachings are, in fact, true.
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Today we celebrate the life of Saint Paul of the Cross.
Born in 17th century Italy, he was the second of sixteen children, only six of whom survived infancy. From an early age, Paul experienced the uncertainty of life and the reality of death.
In an effort to make sense of his family’s suffering, he turned to the paradoxes of our faith – above all, that even in death, there is life.
By the time he was 26 years old, the Lord revealed to Paul in prayer that his life’s mission would be to establish a religious order devoted to our Lord’s Passion. So, Paul was later ordained a priest and, shortly thereafter, he began writing his community’s rule of life.
The first person to join his religious order, the Passionists, was his brother, John. By Paul’s death, there were nearly 200 Passionist priests living in 12 different monasteries. Nearly 2,000 of his letters on spiritual direction have also been preserved.
Today the Passionists continue serving the poorest among us, while living a life of poverty, penance, and prayer.
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What might Saint Paul of the Cross say to us today?
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The same thing Jesus says in the Gospel, “Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it.”
Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’ For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.'” The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Two weeks ago, I flew down to Georgia to visit my brother and his family. While there, we celebrated my nephew’s 4thbirthday a few days early.
His eyes lit up when he opened up his present from “Uncle Kevin,” a large Buzz Lightyear action figure, fully equipped with a space suit, laser, retractable wings, buttons, voice commands, and his signature karate chop.
It didn’t take long before my nephew, Michael, was running around the house, delighted to send Buzz on mission, flying through space, conquering an imaginary enemy… and when victory was accomplished, aiming Buzz’s laser at his two sisters.
For Halloween, he’s stepping it up a notch; Michael is going to dress up to become Buzz Lightyear.
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Children engage their imagination, allowing them to dive deeper into stories, so deep that characters become real. Sometimes as adults we need to do the same, using prayer and reflection to bring the meaning of bible lessons to life.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus shares a parable about a corrupt judge and a persistent widow. I imagine her getting dressed every morning, slowly making her way over to the judge’s court, pleading for mercy, refusing to take “no” for an answer.
After weeks, perhaps months, she wears him down.
“I shall deliver a just decision for her,” the judge says, “lest she finally come and strike me.” This word, “strike,” can also be translated, “to render a black eye.” Imagine a little old lady with a cane in one hand, using the other to whack a judge with her purse!
Sometimes we may think of God as being that judge, whose mind is hard to change. Isn’t that the case when our petitions seem to go unanswered?
But what if the roles are reversed? What if God is the persistent widow knocking on the door of my heart? What if I am the judge, whose mind and heart are hard to change?
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In what ways is the Lord inviting me to grow, to soften, to amend my ways?
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We might also imagine God knocking on the doors of our Archdiocese, pleading with us to open our minds and hearts to new possibilities. This is the point of We are His Witnesses, Cardinal Tobin’s strategic plan for our church’s future.
We all know change is coming. Yet many may be reticent to accept it.
Broadly speaking, Mass attendance, the celebration of the Sacraments, and priestly ordinations have been in decline for years. We have to re-think how we lead as a Church, as well as how we hand on our faith to the next generation.
We as a parish have been working on this for years – thankfully, with some success.
Still, Jesus challenges us, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
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If God is the persistent widow, then is he not also knocking on the doors of the universal Church, begging us to open up our doors and let people in?
Too often we throw hurdle after hurdle in front of people of good will before welcoming them, frustrating their faith journey, making it harder than it needs to be.
Is God not also banging on the doors of society, pleading with us to step outside of our comfort zones, to open our eyes to another person’s perspective, to go out into the streets and encounter the poor, to understand people’s pain and come to their aid?
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While it’s easy to imagine God being the judge, whose mind is hard to change when I place my petitions before him, maybe the real judge is inside of me.
Prayer is what wears that judge down, as it were. It softens us. Humbles us. Awakens us to change and new possibilities.
This is why Jesus commands us to be persistent in prayer, just as God is eternally persistent, patient, and merciful towards us. It takes time to soften our hearts, to move our feet, and to change our ways.
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What doors might Jesus be knocking on in society, in the Church, even in our own lives?
And what might he have to say?
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We cannot interpret the sound of knocking to mean that we know the answer. First, we must open the door, welcome the Lord, sit down, and listen to him, who questions, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Yes, Lord.
You will find it here.
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Image credits: (1) Petrie-Flom Center (2) Two Minute Devotions with Barry Davis (3) The Light of the World, Holman Hunt
Jesus said to his disciples: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Saint Ignatius of Antioch, whose feast day we celebrate today, was born two years after the death and resurrection of Christ. He lived during a period of both intense growth and persecution of the Church.
After being ordained a priest, he became the bishop of Antioch, located in modern-day Turkey. One of his greatest contributions to the Church was his pastoral letters, sent to different Christian communities.
In these letters, he makes various references to the Eucharist, teaching us that these early Christians not only celebrated Mass; they also believed in the Promised Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
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In his Letter to the Romans, Ignatius writes, “I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ… and for drink, I desire his blood.”
In his Letter to the Smyrnaeans, he says plainly, “The Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ.”
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Ignatius gave his life for this belief, as he was mauled to death by lions in a stadium in Rome.
All for love of Christ and his Church.
It is because of Saints like him that Catholics have not only held onto the belief of Christ’s Promised Presence in the Eucharist; we also have the honor of receiving him.
May Ignatius intercede for us, that we’d never take such a precious gift for granted; rather, that we’d become what we receive.
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Image credits: (1) Catholic Answers (2) Martyrdom of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Pier Leone Ghezzi (3) Trenton Monitor
