Listening and Responding Caringly

In today's Gospel, Luke 16: 19-31, Jesus tells the Pharisees the story of "a rich man...dressed in purple garments and fine linen [who] dined sumptuously each day. ...[L]ying at his door was a poor man Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the craps that fell from the rich man's table."  Both men died. The rich man ends up in eternal torment while Lazarus entered heaven.  The rich man begs Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers to pay attention to the poor. Abraham refuses, telling the fallen rich man that his five brothers have Moses and the prophets. They should listen to them. "Oh, no, Abraham," the rich man responds, "if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent."  Abraham responds: "If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead."

Someone has risen from the dead who is Jesus the Lord. Am I listening to Him? Do I pay attention to the small, whispering voice within me guiding me, urging me, encouraging me to respond to the needs of the poor in my midst? The "poor" could be the homeless man/woman standing on a street corner, a fellow parishioners suffering from a terminal or chronic illness, the helpless child in one's home, an infant who is crying out of hunger or sleeplessness or needing a diaper change, a spouse who is exhausted from the demands of caring for toddlers all day. The Spirit may alert me to stop for groceries on the way home from work or some other errand on behalf of the family. Am I listening? Am I responding or do I simply ignore that small, quiet voice, as, most likely, the rich man did when he passed Lazarus by the gate of his mansion!

Resisting Evil, Taking Risks and Doing What is Right

In today’s first reading, 1 Peter 5: 5b-14, St. Peter prays that we be clothed in humility in how we relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but bestows favor on the humble.”  His reasoning: that, by humbling ourselves ”under the mighty hand of God,” we might be exalted by God.  Peter also reminds us that Satan is roaming the world “looking for someone to devour.”

 My heart aches as I think of that reality. Recently I read a book by a young woman, who, as a teenager from a rather affluent suburb of a big city here in the U.S.,  was lured into the commercial sex trade. She was deceived by a smooth-talking, affectionate young man who prowled around the high school “seeking someone to devour.”  As the luring young man primed her, for a time, with loving attention, gifts and affection, he then brought her to the place where the men for whom he himself was working waited. The torturous nights being raped by a number of men who paid “their bosses” was horrendous. Sometimes this prowling man would call her out of classes.  Eventually her grades fell to unusually low standards.  Teachers did nothing. The policemen patrolling the high school did nothing as she left class and met “the charming man” at her locker.  If she did not cooperate, she was warned that harm would come to her family. She also was physically beaten if she resisted.  Every night for two years, the one luring her would also wait for her late at night to secretively leave her home and meet him in an expensive car hidden in the neighborhood. She would then be driven to the designated place where pimps awaited her.

Yes, Satan is prowling this world in disguises! “Resist him,” Peter asks us, “steadfast in faith, knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the world undergo the same sufferings—the pain, in this case,  of following the Spirit’s nudge to act on behalf of this young teenage girl.  “The God of all graces who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish  you after you have suffered a little. To him be dominion forever. Amen”  Following God’s call to help others in need may be difficult. However, becoming Satan’s slave  to disobedience is far more painful!

To whom/what do I give dominion each day? What will lure me today away from what God is asking of me?

Am I aware of persons prowling our high schools, our city blocks, our neighborhoods seeking young girls--most victims of human traffickers are between 12-14 years of age? Do I see suspicious behavior? If I am a teacher/a parent, do I notice changes in otherwise successful students/children that warrant my attention? At midnight, is my child in her room?
 
 

God's Way of Communicating with Us

In today’s first reading, Jeremiah 18: 1-6, the Lord asks Jeremiah to go down to the potter’s house.  “Rise up, be off to the potter’s house; there I will give you my message.” Jeremiah responds without hesitation and, sure enough, there is the potter working at the potter’s wheel.  The art piece that he was trying to make did not turn out well so he started over until the vessel was to his liking, was truly a work of art to be admired and used for its designed purposes.  The Lord’s message to Jeremiah was addressed to the house of Israel. “Can I not do to you, house of Israel, as this potter has done?...Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.”

As I reflected upon this passage, the thought struck me that God speaks to us in ordinary language! “Get up! Rise! Be off.” Who does not understand that kind of language? It is so ordinary that I frequently pay no attention. “The Lord speaking? You got to be kidding. I’m too busy now.”  And I miss the opportunity of grace. I miss God’s message that was waiting for me or the message that God wanted delivered to another through me.  How sad that the simplicity and the humility of God trip me up into oblivion.  How often I continue in my stupor. I choose not to pay attention! 

Jeremiah paid attention! “Jeremiah, pray for us that we, like you, will “rise up, be off” to that place to which God directs us, that we engage in that activity to which  God is calling us, to that person where God awaits us. No matter where it might be, what it might be, God will meet us there. He has an important message to deliver to us through a certain person, at a certain place! Pray that we will have the humility to follow God’s mundane, humble way of making Himself known and sharing the Wisdom of God.

The Writing on the Wall

 In today’s first reading, Daniel 5: 1-6, 13-14, 16-17, 23-28, we read about King  Belchazzar, Nebuchadnezzar’s son who, like his father, worshipped gold ,silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone as gods.  In a drunken state, he ordered that the sacred vessels of silver and gold  from the house of God in Jerusalem be brought to him so that his lords, his wives, his entertainers and he himself could drink wine from them. As they were marrying and worshipping their gods, a hand began to write on the wall. The King was terrified and called for Daniel to interpret the writing. He did so. Mene meant that God had numbered the king’s kingdom and would bring it to an end. Tekel meant that the king was found wanting in God’s eyes. He was worshipping pagan gods but not glorifying “the God in whose hand is your life breath and the whole course of your life.”  Perez meant that Belshazzar’s kingdom would be divided and given to other nations.

Do you and I read the writing on the walls of our lives when we, too, are worshipping false gods, when we have violated the sacred vessels from the Temple?  We are that temple of God.  In 1 Cor 6: 19-20 St. Paul asked “Do you know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? “  Do we glorify the God in whom we “live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28) or are we engaging in idolatrous worship of material things?

Just as God alerted King Belshazzar, son of Nebuchadnezzar, of his waywardness and the consequences of violating the vessels of the Temple, so, too, does God alert us when we stray from the right path. Am I listening? Am I paying attention?

Generosity: A Trait of a Genuine Disciple

Each of today’s readings, Jer  17: 5-10 and Lk 16: 19-31, present us with contrasting images: the bush in the barren desert and the tree by running streams; Dives, the rich person who wines and dines while ignoring the poor;  and Lazarus, a poor person sitting outside of Dives’ villa hoping to find enough discarded food to survive and who is comforted by dogs (think pets) who lick the sores on his body.

I have several choices: being the “barren bush,”  the “tree planted by  running waters;  “Dives” who is indifferent to the poor, the lonely, the oppressed of his world; or Jesus, who reaches out to the marginalized of his society: women, children, the physically and mentally challenged, the deaf and the blind (physically or spiritually deaf or blind), those considered impure and “not worthy” to enter my “house”, those people who might have been stoned to death without Jesus’ intervention, and so on.

Who am I? the barren bush deprived of sources of sustenance or the tree planted near the water? Do I drink of the Living Water? Do I spend time at Jesus’ feet alone in prayer and in worship with my parish community? Do I take time to reflect upon Scripture readings;  for example those of the Mass each day (See The Word among Us available at www.wau.org)? Do I take time to reflect upon my life or will  I simply go on living each day as Dives did and not wake up until it was too late, when he begged God to send Lazarus back to earth to warn his five brothers of what was really important in life; namely, paying attention to, caring about those less fortunate than themselves, those who are needy in any way? Am I aware that being a beloved disciple of Jesus means being in right relationship with and building relationships with those with whom I live and work, with whom I worship each Sunday, with those in my neighborhood, my neighbors throughout the world? Am I aware of how important it is to pay attention to the “Lazarus’ sitting beside me yearning for the “crumbs” I am able to give them: a smile, a congratulatory statement, an acknowledgement of who they are, a word of comfort, a statement that reveals that I care, that I am concerned, that I want to help in some small way to make their world a better place? Or am I too busy with the pleasures of my life to be bothered?