Memorial of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary,
Religious
Lectionary: 495
Lectionary: 495
All men were by nature foolish who were in ignorance of God,
and who from the good things seen did not succeed in knowing him who is,
and from studying the works did not discern the artisan;
But either fire, or wind, or the swift air,
or the circuit of the stars, or the mighty water,
or the luminaries of heaven, the governors of the world, they considered gods.
Now if out of joy in their beauty they thought them gods,
let them know how far more excellent is the Lord than these;
for the original source of beauty fashioned them.
Or if they were struck by their might and energy,
let them from these things realize how much more powerful is he who made them.
For from the greatness and the beauty of created things
their original author, by analogy, is seen.
But yet, for these the blame is less;
For they indeed have gone astray perhaps,
though they seek God and wish to find him.
For they search busily among his works,
but are distracted by what they see, because the things seen are fair.
But again, not even these are pardonable.
For if they so far succeeded in knowledge
that they could speculate about the world,
how did they not more quickly find its Lord?
and who from the good things seen did not succeed in knowing him who is,
and from studying the works did not discern the artisan;
But either fire, or wind, or the swift air,
or the circuit of the stars, or the mighty water,
or the luminaries of heaven, the governors of the world, they considered gods.
Now if out of joy in their beauty they thought them gods,
let them know how far more excellent is the Lord than these;
for the original source of beauty fashioned them.
Or if they were struck by their might and energy,
let them from these things realize how much more powerful is he who made them.
For from the greatness and the beauty of created things
their original author, by analogy, is seen.
But yet, for these the blame is less;
For they indeed have gone astray perhaps,
though they seek God and wish to find him.
For they search busily among his works,
but are distracted by what they see, because the things seen are fair.
But again, not even these are pardonable.
For if they so far succeeded in knowledge
that they could speculate about the world,
how did they not more quickly find its Lord?
Responsorial
PsalmPS 19:2-3, 4-5AB
R. (2a) The
heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day pours out the word to day,
and night to night imparts knowledge.
R. The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.
R. The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day pours out the word to day,
and night to night imparts knowledge.
R. The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
Not a word nor a discourse
whose voice is not heard;
Through all the earth their voice resounds,
and to the ends of the world, their message.
R. The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
AlleluiaLK 21:28
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Stand erect and raise your heads
because your redemption is at hand.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Stand erect and raise your heads
because your redemption is at hand.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelLK 17:26-37
Jesus said to his disciples:
"As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage up to the day
that Noah entered the ark,
and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot:
they were eating, drinking, buying,
selling, planting, building;
on the day when Lot left Sodom,
fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.
So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
On that day, someone who is on the housetop
and whose belongings are in the house
must not go down to get them,
and likewise one in the field
must not return to what was left behind.
Remember the wife of Lot.
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will save it.
I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;
one will be taken, the other left.
And there will be two women grinding meal together;
one will be taken, the other left."
They said to him in reply, "Where, Lord?"
He said to them, "Where the body is,
there also the vultures will gather."
"As it was in the days of Noah,
so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;
they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage up to the day
that Noah entered the ark,
and the flood came and destroyed them all.
Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot:
they were eating, drinking, buying,
selling, planting, building;
on the day when Lot left Sodom,
fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.
So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
On that day, someone who is on the housetop
and whose belongings are in the house
must not go down to get them,
and likewise one in the field
must not return to what was left behind.
Remember the wife of Lot.
Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,
but whoever loses it will save it.
I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;
one will be taken, the other left.
And there will be two women grinding meal together;
one will be taken, the other left."
They said to him in reply, "Where, Lord?"
He said to them, "Where the body is,
there also the vultures will gather."
Meditation: "One
will be taken and the other left"
What can nature teach us about the return of the Lord
Jesus on the day of final judgment at the end of the world? Jesus quoted a
familiar proverb to his audience: Where the body is, there the eagles
(or vultures) will be gathered together (Luke 17:37). Eagles, like
vultures, are attracted to carrion - the carcass of dying or dead animals. The
Book of Job describes the eagle spying out its prey from afar (Job 39:29). The
eagles swoop to catch their prey when the conditions are right, especially if
the prey is exposed and vulnerable to a surprise attack. Severely weakened or
dying prey have no chance of warding off forces that can destroy and
kill.
Sign of the gathering eagles and vultures
What's the point of this analogy? When the day of God's final judgment and vindication comes, the scene and location will be obvious to all. Those who have rejected God and refused to believe in his Son the Lord Jesus Christ will perish on the day of judgment - just like the beasts of prey who are cut off from the land of the living. The Lord Jesus will vindicate those who have believed in him and he will reward them with everlasting joy and happiness in his kingdom. The return of the Lord Jesus at the close of this present age is certain, but the time is unknown. The Day of the Lord's judgment and final verdict will come swiftly and unexpectedly. Jesus warns his listeners to not be caught off guard when that day arrives. It will surely come in God's good time!
What's the point of this analogy? When the day of God's final judgment and vindication comes, the scene and location will be obvious to all. Those who have rejected God and refused to believe in his Son the Lord Jesus Christ will perish on the day of judgment - just like the beasts of prey who are cut off from the land of the living. The Lord Jesus will vindicate those who have believed in him and he will reward them with everlasting joy and happiness in his kingdom. The return of the Lord Jesus at the close of this present age is certain, but the time is unknown. The Day of the Lord's judgment and final verdict will come swiftly and unexpectedly. Jesus warns his listeners to not be caught off guard when that day arrives. It will surely come in God's good time!
Those who accept Jesus Christ as Lord will enter his
everlasting kingdom
What does Jesus mean when he says that one person will be taken and another left? God judges everyone individually on how each person has responded to his gracious mercy and invitation to accept his Son as Lord and Ruler over all. The Lord Jesus gives us personal freedom to accept or reject him as Lord and Savior. We are free to live as citizens of his kingdom or to choose for the kingdom of darkness that stands in opposition to God and his rule. No one can pass off their personal responsibility to someone else - no matter how close the ties may be in this present life. We will each have to give an account to the Judge of All for how we have accepted or rejected him as our lord and savior.
What does Jesus mean when he says that one person will be taken and another left? God judges everyone individually on how each person has responded to his gracious mercy and invitation to accept his Son as Lord and Ruler over all. The Lord Jesus gives us personal freedom to accept or reject him as Lord and Savior. We are free to live as citizens of his kingdom or to choose for the kingdom of darkness that stands in opposition to God and his rule. No one can pass off their personal responsibility to someone else - no matter how close the ties may be in this present life. We will each have to give an account to the Judge of All for how we have accepted or rejected him as our lord and savior.
The good news is that the Lord Jesus freely offers
each one of us the grace, strength, and help we need to turn to him to receive
pardon for our sins and healing for our minds and hearts so we can embrace his
good will for our lives and find the way to our heavenly Father's home. The
Lord Jesus gives us his Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in his wisdom, truth,
and love. The Holy Spirit helps us to turn away from sin and rebellion and to
embrace God's way of love, righteousness (moral goodness), and holiness.
The Lord's warning of judgment is motivated by his
love for each one of us. He does not desire the death of any one (Ezekiel 18:23
and 33:11). He bids us to choose for life rather than death - for goodness and
righteousness rather than sin and evil (Deuteronomy 30:19). The Lord's 'Day of
Judgment' will bring terror and disaster for those who have not heeded his
warning or who have refused his gracious help. The Day of the Lord's Return will
be a cause for great joy and vindication for those who have put their trust in
the Lord Jesus.
The choices we make now - for or against Christ - will
either lead us on the path of life or death - heaven or hell
God's Day of Judgment is a cause for great joy and reward for those who have waited with patient hope and longing for the Lord Jesus to return again in glory and power. The people in Noah's time ignored the Lord's warning of judgment because their hearts were hardened and they were rebellious towards God. When the great flood swept over the earth, they missed the boat, literally! Whose boat or safety net are you staking your life on - the world's life-raft to short-lived success and happiness or to the indestructible Ark of God whose foundation is Jesus Christ and his victorious cross? Those whose hope is firmly anchored in heaven will not be disappointed when the day of final judgment comes. They rejoice even now that their names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20) and they look with eager longing for the day when they will see the Lord face to face (Revelation 22:4). Is your hope firmly placed in the Lord Jesus and his return in glory?
God's Day of Judgment is a cause for great joy and reward for those who have waited with patient hope and longing for the Lord Jesus to return again in glory and power. The people in Noah's time ignored the Lord's warning of judgment because their hearts were hardened and they were rebellious towards God. When the great flood swept over the earth, they missed the boat, literally! Whose boat or safety net are you staking your life on - the world's life-raft to short-lived success and happiness or to the indestructible Ark of God whose foundation is Jesus Christ and his victorious cross? Those whose hope is firmly anchored in heaven will not be disappointed when the day of final judgment comes. They rejoice even now that their names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20) and they look with eager longing for the day when they will see the Lord face to face (Revelation 22:4). Is your hope firmly placed in the Lord Jesus and his return in glory?
"Lord Jesus Christ, I place all my hope in you
because you have redeemed the world by your death on the cross and by your
victory over the grave. Help me to never lose sight of the goal of heaven that
I may live each day in joyful anticipation of your return in glory."
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Those working in the field are sowing the
Word of God, by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397
A.D.
"'He that will be on the housetop, do not let him
go down. He that will be in the field, do not let him turn back.' How may I
understand what is the field unless Jesus himself teaches me? He says, 'No one
putting his hand to the plough (plow) and looking back is fit for the kingdom
of God' (Luke 9:62). The lazy person sits in the farmhouse, but the industrious
person plants in the field. The weak are at the fireplace, but the strong are
at the plough. The smell of a field is good, because the smell of Jacob is the
smell of a full field (Genesis 27:27). A field is full of flowers. It is full
of different fruits. Plough your field if you want to be sent to the kingdom of
God. Let your field flower, fruitful with good rewards. Let there be a fruitful
vine on the sides of your house and young olive plants around your table (Psalm
127:3). Already aware of its fertility, let your soul, sown with the Word of
God and tilled by spiritual farming, say to Christ, 'Come, my brother, let us
go out into the field' (Song of Solomon 7:11). Let him reply, 'I have come into
my garden, my sister, my bride. I have gathered my vintage of myrrh'
(Song of Solomon 5:1). What is better than the vintage of faith, by which the
fruit of the resurrection is stored and the spring of eternal rejoicing is
watered?" (excerpt from EXPOSITION
OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 8.43.27)
FRIDAY,
NOVEMBER 17, LUKE 17:26-37
(Wisdom 13:1-9; Psalm 19)
(Wisdom 13:1-9; Psalm 19)
KEY VERSE: "Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it" (v 33).
TO KNOW: Throughout salvation history, the prophets warned the people of God's imminent judgment, yet they ignored these messengers of God. In Noah's day, the people continued with their ordinary activities right up to the moment the flood engulfed them (Gn 6-7). Abraham's nephew Lot had to be dragged from the city of Sodom because he did not heed the warnings of its impending destruction (19:16). Jesus alerted his followers to flee Jerusalem at the first sign of the city's coming destruction. When Jerusalem fell in 70 CE, thousands died in the siege while those who heeded Jesus' counsel fled to Pella and were saved. God's judgment swiftly separated the righteous from the unjust. Those who trusted in God would find life everlasting.
TO LOVE: Do I heed the warnings of today's prophets?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to place my life in your hands.
Memorial of Saint Elizabeth of
Hungary, religious
Elizabeth was the daughter of King Andrew of Hungary, and she was the Great-aunt of Saint Elizabeth of Portugal. She married Prince Louis at age 13. Elizabeth built a hospital at the foot of the mountain on which her castle stood, and tended to the sick herself. Her family and courtiers opposed this, but she insisted she was only following Christ's teachings. Once, when she was taking food to the poor and sick, Prince Louis stopped her and looked under her mantle to see what she was carrying. The food had been miraculously changed to roses. Upon Louis' death, Elizabeth sold all that she had, and worked to support her four children. Her gifts of bread to the poor, and of a large gift of grain to famine stricken Germany, led to her patronage of bakers and related fields.
Friday 17
November 2017
St Elizabeth of Hungary. Day of
Penance.
Wisdom
13:1-9. Psalm 18(19):2-5. Luke 17:26-37.
The
heavens proclaim the glory of God — Psalm 18(19):2-5.
Seek first
the kingdom of God.
‘Those who seek to preserve their
life will lose it.’ The disciples must have found these words of Jesus to be
particularly obscure. Then he added, ‘Those who lose their life will save it.’
Even more perplexingly, what does
this scripture mean to us today? Surely we are not meant to ignore the care of
our bodies, our life. Correct diet, exercise and adequate sleep are essential
elements in healthy living. Our bodies are the ‘temple of the Holy Spirit’. Of
course, we should maintain them.
The problem may be when either our
health or our body image becomes our main focus. What is our priority—our
bodies or God? Do we spend more time pursuing our creator or what he has
created? We are asked to seek first the kingdom of God. How best can we do that
today?
ST. ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY
On Nov. 17, the Catholic Church celebrates the life and example of
St. Elizabeth of Hungary, a medieval noblewoman who responded to personal
tragedy by embracing St. Francis' ideals of poverty and service. A patron of
secular Franciscans, she is especially beloved to Germans, as well as the
faithful of her native Hungary.
As
the daughter of the Hungarian King Andrew II, Elizabeth had the
responsibilities of royalty thrust upon her almost as soon as her short life
began in 1207. While she was still very young, Elizabeth's father arranged for
her to be married to a German nobleman, Ludwig of Thuringia.
The
plan forced Elizabeth to separate from her parents while still a child. Adding
to this sorrow was the murder of Elizabeth's mother Gertrude in 1213, which
history ascribes to a conflict between her own German people and the Hungarian
nobles. Elizabeth took a solemn view of life and death from that point on, and
found consolation in prayer. Both tendencies drew some ire from her royal
peers.
For
a time, beginning in 1221, she was happily married. Ludwig, who had advanced to
become one of the rulers of Thuringia, supported Elizabeth's efforts to live
out the principles of the Gospel even within the royal court. She met with
friars of the nascent Franciscan order during its founder's own lifetime,
resolving to use her position as queen to advance their mission of charity.
Remarkably,
Ludwig agreed with his wife's resolution, and the politically powerful couple
embraced a life of remarkable generosity toward the poor. They had three
children, two of whom went on to live as as members of the nobility, although
one of them –her only son– died relatively young. The third eventually entered
religious life and became abbess of a German convent.
In
1226, while Ludwig was attending to political affairs in Italy, Elizabeth took
charge of distributing aid to victims of disease and flooding that struck
Thuringia. She took charge of caring for the afflicted, even when this required
giving up the royal family's own clothes and goods. Elizabeth arranged for a
hospital to be built, and is said to have provided for the needs of nearly a
thousand desperately poor people on a daily basis.
The
next year, however, would put Elizabeth's faith to the test. Her husband had
promised to assist the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sixth Crusade,
but he died of illness en route to Jerusalem. Devastated by Ludwig's death,
Elizabeth vowed never to remarry. Her children were sent away, and relatives
heavily pressured her to break the vow.
Undeterred,
Elizabeth used her remaining money to build another hospital, where she
personally attended to the sick almost constantly. Sending away her servants,
she joined the Third Order of St. Francis, seeking to emulate the example of
its founder as closely as her responsibilities would allow. Near the end of her
life, she lived in a small hut and spun her own clothes.
Working
continually with the severely ill, Elizabeth became sick herself, dying of
illness in November of 1231. After she died, miraculous healings soon began to
occur at her grave near the hospital, and she was declared a saint only four
years later.
Pope
Benedict XVI has praised her as a “model for those in authority,” noting the
continuity between her personal love for God, and her public work on behalf of
the poor and sick.
Patronage:
Bakers; beggars; brides; charitable societies; charitable workers; charities;
countesses; death of children; exiles; falsely accused people; hoboes; homeless
people; hospitals; in-law problems; lacemakers; lace workers; nursing homes;
nursing services; people in exile; people ridiculed for their piety; Sisters of
Mercy; tertiaries; Teutonic Knights; toothache; tramps; widows.
Representation:
A queen distributing alms; woman wearing a crown and tending to beggars; woman
wearing a crown, carrying a load of roses in her apron or mantle.
LECTIO DIVINA: LUKE 17,26-37
Lectio Divina:
Friday, November 17, 2017
Ordinary
Time
1) Opening prayer
God of power and mercy,
protect us from all harm.
Give us freedom of spirit
and health in mind and body
to do your work on earth.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
protect us from all harm.
Give us freedom of spirit
and health in mind and body
to do your work on earth.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel reading - Luke 17:26-37
Jesus said to His disciples “as it was
in Noah's day, so will it also be in the days of the Son of man. People were
eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, right up to the day Noah went
into the ark, and the Flood came and destroyed them all.
It will be the same as it was in Lot's day: people were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but the day Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and it destroyed them all. It will be the same when the day comes for the Son of man to be revealed.”
“When that Day comes, no one on the housetop, with his possessions in the house, must come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it, and anyone who loses it will keep it safe.
I tell you, on that night, when two are in one bed, one will be taken, the other left. When two women are grinding corn together, one will be taken, the other left.”
It will be the same as it was in Lot's day: people were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but the day Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and it destroyed them all. It will be the same when the day comes for the Son of man to be revealed.”
“When that Day comes, no one on the housetop, with his possessions in the house, must come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it, and anyone who loses it will keep it safe.
I tell you, on that night, when two are in one bed, one will be taken, the other left. When two women are grinding corn together, one will be taken, the other left.”
The disciples spoke up and asked,
'Where, Lord?' He said, 'Where the body is, there too will the vultures
gather.’
3) Reflection
• Today’s Gospel continues the
reflection on the coming of the end of time and presents to us the words of
Jesus about how to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Kingdom. This was an
affair which produced much discussion at that time. God is the one who
determines the hour of the coming end of time. But the time of God
(kairós) is not measured according to the time of our clock (chronos). For God
one day can be equal to one thousand years, and one thousand years equal to one
day (Ps 90, 4; 2 P 3, 8). The time of God goes by invisibly in our time, but
independently of us and our time. We cannot interfere in time, but we
have to be prepared for the moment in which the hour of God becomes present in
our time. It could be today, or it could be in one thousand years. What gives
us security is not to know the hour of the end of the world, but the certainty
of the presence of the Words of Jesus present in our life. The world will pass,
but the Word of God will never pass (cf. Is 40, 7-8).
• Luke 17, 26-29: “As it was in the day of Noah and of Lot. Life goes by normally: eating, drinking, getting married, buying, selling, sowing, harvesting. Ourroutine can include so much that we do not manage to think about anything else. The consumerism of our time generates in many of us a total lack of attention to the more profound dimensions of life. We allow the moths to enter into the beam of faith which holds up the more profound dimensions of life. When the storm destroys the house, many of us blame the carpenter: “It was badly made!” In reality, it crumbled down due to our continual lack of attention. The reference to the destruction of Sodom as a figure of what will happen at the end of timemay be a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in the years 70’s AD (cf. Mk 13, 14).
• Luke 17, 30-32: So it will also be in the days of the Son of Man. “So it will be in the days when the Son of Man will reveal Himself”. It is difficult for us to imagine the suffering and the trauma that the destruction of Jerusalem caused in both Jewish and Christiancommunities. In order to help them to understand and face this suffering Jesus uses a comparison taken from life: “When that Day comes, no one on the housetop, with his possessions in the house, must come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields turn back”. The destruction will take place so rapidly that it is not worth while to go down to look for something in the house (Mk 13, 15-16). “Remember Lot’s wife” (cf. Gn 19, 26): that is do not look back, do not lose time, decide and gg. It is a question of life or death.
• Luke 17, 33: To lose one’s life in order to save it. “Anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it, and anyone who loses it will keep it safe”. Only the person who has been capable of giving himself/herself completely to others will feel totally fulfilled in life. Anyone who preserves life for self alone loses it. This advice of Jesus is the confirmation of the most profound human experience: the source of life is found in the gift of life. In giving, one receives. “In all truth I tell you: unless a wheat grain falls into the earth and dies, it remains only a single grain, but if it dies it yields a rich harvest.” (Jn 12, 24). The motivation which Mark’s Gospel adds is important: “for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel” (Mk 8, 35). Saying that no one is capable of preserving his life by his own efforts, Jesus recalls the Psalm in which it is said that nobody is capable of paying the price for the ransom of his life: “No one can redeem himself or pay his own ransom to God. The price for himself is too highI it can never be that he will live on forever and avoid the sight of the abyss.” (Ps 49, 8-10).
• Luke 17, 34-36: Vigilance. “I tell you, on that night, when two are in one bed, one will be taken, the other left. When two women are grinding corn together one will be taken, the other left”. This recalls the parable of the ten Virgins. Five were prudent and five were foolish (Mt 25, 1-11). What is important is to be prepared. The words “one will be taken and the other left” recall the words of Paul to the Thessalonians (1Th 4, 13-17), when he says that with the coming of the Son of Man, we will be taken to Heaven at the side of Jesus. These words “left behind” furnished the title of a terrible and dangerous romance of the fundamentalist extreme right of the United States: “Left Behind!” This is a romance which has nothing to do with the real sense of the words of Jesus.
• Luke 17, 26-29: “As it was in the day of Noah and of Lot. Life goes by normally: eating, drinking, getting married, buying, selling, sowing, harvesting. Ourroutine can include so much that we do not manage to think about anything else. The consumerism of our time generates in many of us a total lack of attention to the more profound dimensions of life. We allow the moths to enter into the beam of faith which holds up the more profound dimensions of life. When the storm destroys the house, many of us blame the carpenter: “It was badly made!” In reality, it crumbled down due to our continual lack of attention. The reference to the destruction of Sodom as a figure of what will happen at the end of timemay be a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in the years 70’s AD (cf. Mk 13, 14).
• Luke 17, 30-32: So it will also be in the days of the Son of Man. “So it will be in the days when the Son of Man will reveal Himself”. It is difficult for us to imagine the suffering and the trauma that the destruction of Jerusalem caused in both Jewish and Christiancommunities. In order to help them to understand and face this suffering Jesus uses a comparison taken from life: “When that Day comes, no one on the housetop, with his possessions in the house, must come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields turn back”. The destruction will take place so rapidly that it is not worth while to go down to look for something in the house (Mk 13, 15-16). “Remember Lot’s wife” (cf. Gn 19, 26): that is do not look back, do not lose time, decide and gg. It is a question of life or death.
• Luke 17, 33: To lose one’s life in order to save it. “Anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it, and anyone who loses it will keep it safe”. Only the person who has been capable of giving himself/herself completely to others will feel totally fulfilled in life. Anyone who preserves life for self alone loses it. This advice of Jesus is the confirmation of the most profound human experience: the source of life is found in the gift of life. In giving, one receives. “In all truth I tell you: unless a wheat grain falls into the earth and dies, it remains only a single grain, but if it dies it yields a rich harvest.” (Jn 12, 24). The motivation which Mark’s Gospel adds is important: “for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel” (Mk 8, 35). Saying that no one is capable of preserving his life by his own efforts, Jesus recalls the Psalm in which it is said that nobody is capable of paying the price for the ransom of his life: “No one can redeem himself or pay his own ransom to God. The price for himself is too highI it can never be that he will live on forever and avoid the sight of the abyss.” (Ps 49, 8-10).
• Luke 17, 34-36: Vigilance. “I tell you, on that night, when two are in one bed, one will be taken, the other left. When two women are grinding corn together one will be taken, the other left”. This recalls the parable of the ten Virgins. Five were prudent and five were foolish (Mt 25, 1-11). What is important is to be prepared. The words “one will be taken and the other left” recall the words of Paul to the Thessalonians (1Th 4, 13-17), when he says that with the coming of the Son of Man, we will be taken to Heaven at the side of Jesus. These words “left behind” furnished the title of a terrible and dangerous romance of the fundamentalist extreme right of the United States: “Left Behind!” This is a romance which has nothing to do with the real sense of the words of Jesus.
• Luke 17, 37: Where and when? “The
disciples asked: Where, Lord?” And Jesus answered: “Where the body is, there
too the vultures will gather”. This is an enigmatic response. Some think that
Jesus recalled the prophecy of Ezekiel, taken up in the Apocalypse, in which
the prophet refers to the final victorious battle against the force of evil.
The birds of prey or the vultures will be invited to eat the flesh of the
bodies (Ez 39, 4. 17-20; Rv 19, 17-18). Others think that it is a question of
the Valley of Jehoshaphat where the final judgment will take place according to
the prophecy of Joel (Ga 4, 2.12). Others think that it is simply a variation
of a popular proverb which meant more or less what our contemporary proverb
says: “Where there is smoke, there is fire!”
4) Personal questions
• Am I from the time of Noah or from the
time of Lot?
• A Romance of the extreme right. How do
I place myself before this political manipulation of the faith in Jesus? ---I
have no idea what this means.
5) Concluding prayer
How blessed are those whose way is
blameless,
who walk in the Law of Yahweh!
Blessed are those who observe His instructions,
who seek Him with all their hearts. (Ps 119,1-2)
who walk in the Law of Yahweh!
Blessed are those who observe His instructions,
who seek Him with all their hearts. (Ps 119,1-2)
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