OCTOBER 22, 2012 : MONDAY OF THE TWENTY-NINTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Monday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 473

Reading 1 Eph 2:1-10

Brothers and sisters:
You were dead in your transgressions and sins
in which you once lived following the age of this world,
following the ruler of the power of the air,
the spirit that is now at work in the disobedient.
All of us once lived among them in the desires of our flesh,
following the wishes of the flesh and the impulses,
and we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest.
But God, who is rich in mercy,
because of the great love he had for us,
even when we were dead in our transgressions,
brought us to life with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
raised us up with him,
and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus,
that in the ages to come
he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace
in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith,
and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;
it is not from works, so no one may boast.
For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for good works
that God has prepared in advance,
that we should live in them.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 100:1b-2, 3, 4ab, 4c-5

R. (3b) The Lord made us, we belong to him.
Sing joyfully to the LORD all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R. The Lord made us, we belong to him.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R. The Lord made us, we belong to him.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise.
R. The Lord made us, we belong to him.
Give thanks to him; bless his name, for he is good:
the LORD, whose kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. The Lord made us, we belong to him.

Gospel Lk 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus,
"Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me."
He replied to him,
"Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?"
Then he said to the crowd,
"Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one's life does not consist of possessions."

Then he told them a parable.
"There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, 'What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?'
And he said, 'This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.
There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, 'Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!'"
But God said to him,
'You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?'
Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself
but is not rich in what matters to God."

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Meditation: "One's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions"

 Have you ever tried to settle a money dispute or an inheritance issue? Inheritance disputes are rarely ever easy to resolve, especially when the relatives or close associates of the deceased benefactor cannot agree on who should get what and who should get the most. Why did Jesus refuse to settle an inheritance dispute between two brothers? He saw that the heart of the issue was not justice or fairness but rather greed and possessiveness.
The ten commandments were summarized into two prohibitions – do not worship false idols and do not covet what belongs to another. It's the flip side of the two great commandments – love God and love your neighbor. Jesus warned the man who wanted  half of his brother's inheritance to "beware of all covetousness."  To covet is to wish to get wrongfully what another possesses or to begrudge what God has given to another. Jesus restates the commandment "do not covet", but he also states that a person's life does not consist in the abundance of his or her possessions.
August of Hippo (354-430 AD) comments on Jesus' words to the brother who wanted more:

Greed wants to divide, just as love desires to gather. What is the significance of “guard against all greed,” unless it is “fill yourselves with love”? We, possessing love for our portion, inconvenience the Lord because of our brother just as that man did against his brother, but we do not use the same plea. He said, “Master, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” We say, “Master, tell my brother that he may have my inheritance.” [Sermon 265.9]

Jesus reinforces his point with a parable about a foolish rich man. Why does Jesus call this wealthy landowner a fool? Jesus does not fault the rich man for his industriousness and skill in acquiring wealth, but rather for his egoism and selfishness – it's mine, all mine, and no one else's. This parable is similar to the parable of the rich man who refused to give any help to the beggar Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). The rich fool had lost the capacity to be concerned for others. His life was consumed with his possessions and his only interests were in himself. His death was the final loss of his soul!
In the parable of the rich fool Jesus gives a lesson on using material possessions. It is in giving that we receive. Those who are rich towards God receive ample reward – not only in this life – but in eternity as well.
Cyril of Alexandria, a fifth century church father, comments on Jesus' word to be rich toward God:

It is true that a person’s life is not from one’s possessions or because of having an overabundance. He who is rich toward God is very blessed and has glorious hope. Who is he? Evidently, one who does not love wealth but rather loves virtue, and to whom few things are sufficient. It is one whose hand is open to the needs of the poor, comforting the sorrows of those in poverty according to his means and the utmost of his power. He gathers in the storehouses that are above and lays up treasures in heaven. Such a one shall find the interest of his virtue and the reward of his right and blameless life. [Commentary on Luke, Homily 89]

In this little parable Jesus probes our heart – where is your treasure? Treasure has a special connection to the heart, the place of desire and longing, the place of will and focus. The thing we most set our heart on is our highest treasure. What do you treasure above all else?
"Lord Jesus, free my heart from all possessivness and from coveting what belongs to another. May I desire you alone as the one true treasure worth possessing above all else. Help me to make good use of the material blessings you give me that I may use them generously for your glory and for the good of others."
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Bigger Barns?

Monday of the Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Father Steven Reilly, LC Listen to podcast version here. Luke 12:13-21 Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to share the inheritance with me." He replied to him, "Friend, who appointed me as your judge and arbitrator?" Then he said to the crowd, "Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one´s life does not consist of possessions." Then he told them a parable. "There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ´What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?´ And he said, ´This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, "Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!" But God said to him, ´You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?´ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God." Introductory Prayer: O God, I come to you today with all my human frailty. You know me better than I know myself. I am in your presence to accompany and console you, not to seek consolation or a nice feeling for myself. Even if I get distracted during our time together, I offer myself to you completely. Petition: Lord, give me wisdom to understand what is truly important in this life. 1. The Scorecard of Life: Driving down the road, a bumper sticker is often seen: “The one who dies with the most toys wins.” This is a contemporary rendition of the mantra of Jesus’ rich fool: “Eat, drink and be merry.” Juggling credit cards and all kinds of financing schemes, many people live life like the rich fool in today’s Gospel. Is the drive for material pleasure, or security, impoverishing my soul? 2. A Bigger Barn vs. a Bigger Heart: What will truly make us happy? Glossy magazine ads are, for some, a source of inspiration on this point. Basically, they are about “bigger barns”: a hotter car, redder lipstick, spectacular vacations. The rich fool believes that by increasing his capacity for material pleasure, he will be happier. But it’s an illusion. Like the running wheel for a gerbil, it is lots of movement without getting anywhere. We invest energy and effort acquiring things, but the bigger barn brings us little joy. That’s because our hearts -- not our barns -- are what really need to be enlarged. Our heart longs for love. That Augustinian restlessness will never leave us in peace until we have encountered the Lord who loves us and discovered him in the relationships ordained by his providence. 3. When the Final Curtain Is Drawn: At the end of this parable, Jesus in essence says, “You can’t take it with you.” There’s a place in Rome in which this is graphically depicted. The Capuchin church of St Mary of the Immaculate Conception, on Via Veneto, is affectionately known as the “Bone Church.” Inside there is an amazingly designed and arranged display made completely out of the bones of four thousand Capuchin friars! While it may strike at modern sensitivities as somewhat morbid, like today’s Gospel it teaches an important lesson. All those bones look alike. Unless you are a forensic expert, you cannot tell who was fat or thin, smart or dull, handsome or homely. Death is the great leveler. Earthly advantages dissolve. Material goods stay in this world. We go to the Lord to render an account of our lives at death. As the little sign on the wall of the Capuchin ossarium says, “One day, we were like you. One day, you will be like us.” Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, so often I find my eyes looking on the good things of this world more as ends than means. I need to keep my priorities straight always: you first and then everything else, inasmuch as they lead me to you. Give me the wisdom to realize that life is short and it must be lived for you alone. Resolution: I will live charity today as fervently as if I knew this day were my last.

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 22
LUKE 12:13-21
(Ephesians 2:1-10; Psalm 100) 
KEY VERSE: "You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?" (v 20). 
READING: When an argument ensued between brothers regarding a family's inheritance, Jesus refused to intervene. Instead, he told a parable about the foolishness of focusing on material wealth. In the story, a rich man's barns were full, so he made plans to build even bigger ones to store his harvest. The man presumed that he would have many years to enjoy his prosperity, but he gave no thought to God's plans. (Count the number of times the man said "I" and "my"). When death came unexpectedly, the man's earthly riches counted for nothing. He was a "fool" because he was so absorbed in his worldly goods that he lost sight of God's treasures that have eternal value (Mt 6:20). 
REFLECTING: What are the "barns" I am building to hold my earthly treasures?
PRAYING: Lord Jesus, you are more precious than any riches I might possess.
www.daily-word-of-life.com

The Lord made us, we belong to him.
‘This hoard of yours, whose will it be then?’
Jesus, our faith can be so easily undermined. The world works against our faith: many say there is no God, and others act as though you, Lord, no longer matter. There are false gods which we are told to worship—money, possessions, success. Yet, Lord, you said that our life is not made secure by what we own, even when we have more than we need.

Dear Jesus, I pray that these words will sink deep into my heart and mind. May my faith in you grow as I break away from the false gods that I worship, and may I grow more and more in the realisation that my comfort and security come from you alone. 
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THOUGHT FOR TODAY
FAILURE
Failure is not the worst thing in the world. The very worst is not to try (Theme a school assembly 17 April 1996).
The fastest way to succeed is to double your failure rate (Thomas Watson, IBM).
You must learn to fail intelligently. Failing is one of the greatest arts in the world. One fails forward towards success (Thomas Edison).
From A Canopy of Stars: Some Reflections for the Journey by Fr Christopher Gleeson SJ [David Lovell Publishing 2003]
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MINUTE MEDITATIONS

Consequence of Sin   

Take comfort because your suffering is in God’s will. If human nature is resentful of suffering and resists it, that is because human beings were created for happiness, and crosses are a consequence of sin.

— from Padre Pio’s Spiritual Direction for Every Day

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October 22
St. Peter of Alcantara
(1499-1562)

Peter was a contemporary of well-known 16th-century Spanish saints, including Ignatius of Loyola and John of the Cross. He served as confessor to St. Teresa of Avila. Church reform was a major issue in Peter’s day, and he directed most of his energies toward that end. His death came one year before the Council of Trent ended.

Born into a noble family (his father was the governor of Alcantara in Spain), Peter studied law at Salamanca University and, at 16, joined the so-called Observant Franciscans (also known as the discalced, or barefoot, friars). While he practiced many penances, he also demonstrated abilities which were soon recognized. He was named the superior of a new house even before his ordination as a priest; at the age of 39, he was elected provincial; he was a very successful preacher. Still, he was not above washing dishes and cutting wood for the friars. He did not seek attention; indeed, he preferred solitude.
Peter’s penitential side was evident when it came to food and clothing. It is said that he slept only 90 minutes each night. While others talked about Church reform, Peter’s reform began with himself. His patience was so great that a proverb arose: "To bear such an insult one must have the patience of Peter of Alcantara."
In 1554, Peter, having received permission, formed a group of Franciscans who followed the Rule of St. Francis with even greater rigor. These friars were known as Alcantarines. Some of the Spanish friars who came to North and South America in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries were members of this group. At the end of the 19th century, the Alcantarines were joined with other Observant friars to form the Order of Friars Minor.
As spiritual director to St. Teresa, Peter encouraged her in promoting the Carmelite reform. His preaching brought many people to religious life, especially to the Secular Franciscan Order, the friars and the Poor Clares.
He was canonized in 1669.

Comment:

Poverty was a means and not an end for Peter. The goal was following Christ in ever greater purity of heart. Whatever obstructed that path could be eliminated with no real loss.

The philosophy of our consumer age—you are worth what you own—may find Peter of Alcantara’s approach severe. Ultimately his approach is life-giving while consumerism is deadly.

Quote:

"I do not praise poverty for poverty's sake; I praise only that poverty which we patiently endure for the love of our crucified Redeemer and I consider this far more desirable than the poverty we undertake for the sake of poverty itself; for if I thought or believed otherwise, I would not seem to be firmly grounded in faith" (Letter of Peter to Teresa of Avila).

October 22
Blessed Pope John Paul II
1920-2005

“Open wide the doors to Christ,” urged John Paul II during the homily at the Mass when he was installed as pope in 1978. 

Born in Wadowice, Poland, Karol Jozef Wojtyla had lost his mother, father and older brother before his 21st birthday. Karol’s promising academic career at Krakow’s Jagiellonian University was cut short by the outbreak of World War II. While working in a quarry and a chemical factory, he enrolled in an “underground” seminary in Kraków. Ordained in 1946, he was immediately sent to Rome where he earned a doctorate in theology. 

Back in Poland, a short assignment as assistant pastor in a rural parish preceded his very fruitful chaplaincy for university students. Soon he earned a doctorate in philosophy and began teaching that subject at Poland’s University of Lublin. 

Communist officials allowed him to be appointed auxiliary bishop of Krakow in 1958, considering him a relatively harmless intellectual. They could not have been more wrong! 

He attended all four sessions of Vatican II and contributed especially to itsPastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. Appointed as archbishop of Krakow in 1964, he was named a cardinal three years later. 

Elected pope in October 1978, he took the name of his short-lived, immediate predecessor. Pope John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. In time, he made pastoral visits to 124 countries, including several with small Christian populations. 

He promoted ecumenical and interfaith initiatives, especially the 1986 Day of Prayer for World Peace in Assisi. He visited Rome’s Main Synagogue and the Western Wall in Jerusalem; he also established diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Israel. He improved Catholic-Muslim relations and in 2001 visited a mosque in Damascus, Syria. 

The Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, a key event in John Paul’s ministry, was marked by special celebrations in Rome and elsewhere for Catholics and other Christians. Relations with the Orthodox Churches improved considerably during his ministry as pope. 

“Christ is the center of the universe and of human history” was the opening line of his 1979 encyclical, Redeemer of the Human Race. In 1995, he described himself to the United Nations General Assembly as “a witness to hope.” 

His 1979 visit to Poland encouraged the growth of the Solidarity movement there and the collapse of communism in central and eastern Europe 10 years later. He began World Youth Day and traveled to several countries for those celebrations. He very much wanted to visit China and the Soviet Union but the governments in those countries prevented that. 

One of the most well-remembered photos of his pontificate was his one-on-one conversation in 1983 with Mehmet Ali Agca, who had attempted to assassinate him two years earlier. 

In his 27 years of papal ministry, John Paul wrote 14 encyclicals and five books, canonized 482 saints and beatified 1,338 people. 

In the last years of his life, he suffered from Parkinson’s disease and was forced to cut back on some of his activities. 

Pope Benedict XVI beatified John Paul II on May 1, 2011, Divine Mercy Sunday.

Comment:

Before John Paul’s funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square, hundreds of thousands of people had waited patiently for a brief moment to pray before his body, which lay in state inside St. Peter’s for several days. The media coverage of his funeral was unprecedented. 

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, then dean of the College of Cardinals and later Pope Benedict XVI, presided at the funeral Mass and concluded his homily by saying: “None of us can ever forget how, in that last Easter Sunday of his life, the Holy Father, marked by suffering, came once more to the window of the Apostolic Palace and one last time gave his blessing urbi et orbi [‘to the city and to the world’]. 

“We can be sure that our beloved pope is standing today at the window of the Father’s house, that sees us and blesses us. Yes, bless us, Holy Father. We entrust your dear soul to the Mother of God, your Mother, who guided you each day and who will guide you now to the glory of her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.” 

Quote:

In his 1999 Letter to the Elderly, Pope John Paul II wrote: “Grant, O Lord of life,...when the moment of our definitive ‘passage’ comes, that we may face it with serenity, without regret for what we shall leave behind. For in meeting you, after having sought you for so long, we shall find once more every authentic good which we have known here on earth, in the company of all those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith and hope....Amen.”

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LECTIO: LUKE 12,13-21

Lectio: 

 Monday, October 22, 2012  

Ordinary Time

1) Opening prayer

Almighty and everlasting God,
our source of power and inspiration,
give us strength and joy
in serving you as followers of Christ,
who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

2) Gospel Reading - Luke 12,13-21

A man in the crowd said to him, 'Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance.' He said to him, 'My friend, who appointed me your judge, or the arbitrator of your claims?' Then he said to them, 'Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for life does not consist in possessions, even when someone has more than he needs.'

Then he told them a parable, 'There was once a rich man who, having had a good harvest from his land, thought to himself, "What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my crops." Then he said, "This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them, and I will say to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time." But God said to him, "Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?" So it is when someone stores up treasure for himself instead of becoming rich in the sight of God.'

3) Reflection

● The episode in today’s gospel is found only in the Gospel of Luke and does not have a parallel in the other Gospels. It forms part of the long description of Jesus’ trip from Galilee to Jerusalem (Lk 9, 51 to 19, 28), in which Luke places most of the information which he succeeded to collect concerning Jesus and which is not found in the other three Gospels (cf. Lk 1, 2-3). The gospel today gives the response of Jesus to the person who asked him to be the mediator in the distribution of an inheritance.

● Luke 12, 13: A request to distribute an inheritance. “One from the crowd told Jesus: Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance”. Up until today, the distribution of an inheritance among the living relatives is always a delicate question and, many times, it is the occasion of disputes and of tensions without end. At that time, the inheritance also had something to do with the identity of the person (1 K 21, 1-3) and with the survival (Num 27,1-11; 36,1-12). The greatest problem was the distribution of the land among the sons of the deceased father. If the family was numerous, there was the danger that the inheritance would be divided into small pieces of land which would not have guaranteed survival of all. For this reason, in order to avoid the breaking up or disintegration of the inheritance and to maintain alive the name of the family, the firstborn or eldest received double of what the other sons received (Dt 21,17. cf. 2Rs 2, 11).

● Luke 12, 14-15: Response of Jesus: attention to greed, to cupidity. “Jesus answers: My friend, who appointed me your judge or the arbitrator of your claims?” In the response of Jesus appears the knowledge which he has of the mission. Jesus does not feel sent by God to respond to the request to be arbitrator between the relatives who argue or quarrel among themselves concerning the distribution of the inheritance. But the request of this man leads him to the mission to orientate persons, because “Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for life does not consist in possessions, even when someone has more than he needs”. It was part of his mission to clarify persons concerning the sense of life. The value of life does not consist in having many things, rather in being rich for God (Lk 12, 21). Because when gain occupies the heart, it does not know how to distribute the inheritance in an equitable way and with peace.

● Luke 12, 16-19: The parable that makes one think on the sense of life. Then Jesus told a parable to help persons to reflect on the sense of life: “There was a rich man who having had a good harvest from his land, thought to himself: What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my crops”. The rich man was very obsessed by the concern of his goods which had increased in an unforeseen way because of an abundant harvest. He thinks only of accumulating in order to guarantee a life without worries. He says: This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them and I will say to my soul: My soul, now you have plenty of good things laid for many years to come, take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time”.

● Luke 12, 20: The first conclusion of the parable. “But God said to him: ‘Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul, and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?” So it is when someone stores up treasures for himself instead of becoming rich in the sight of God”. Death is an important key to discover the true sense of life. It makes all things relative, because it shows what perishes and that which remains. Anyone who only seeks to have and forgets to be, loses everything at the hour of death. Here we have a thought which appears very frequently in the Books of wisdom: Why accumulate great quantities of goods in this life if you do not know what will become of them, if you do not know what the heirs will do with what you will leave them. (Qo 2, 12.18-19. 21).

● Luke 12, 21: second conclusion of the parable. “So it is with someone who stores up treasures for himself instead of becoming rich in the sight of God”.How can one become rich for God? Jesus gives several suggestions and advice: Anyone who wants to be first, let him be last (Mt 20, 27; Mk 9, 35; 10, 44); it is better to give than to receive (Ac 20, 35); the greatest is the smallest (Mt 18, 4; 23, 11; Lk 9, 48) he/she who loses his/her life will save it (Mt 10, 39; 16, 25; Mk 8, 35; Lk 9, 24).

4) Personal questions

● The man asked Jesus to help him in the distribution of his inheritance. And you, what do you ask Jesus in your prayer?
● Consumerism creates needs and awakens in us the desire of gaining. What do you do so as not to be a victim of gain brought about by consumerism?

5) Concluding prayer

Acclaim Yahweh, all the earth,
serve Yahweh with gladness,
come into his presence with songs of joy! (Ps 100,1-2)

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