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Christian = Churchgoer?

The Thessalonians believed that the day of the Lord was happening immediately, and so some of them started to say, “What’s the point of working or planning for the future, if the day of the Lord is coming next week, or soon enough?” St. Paul reminds them that the expectation of the Lord’s coming does not excuse them from working in this world ( 2 Thessalonians 3.7-12), and he tells them in his Letter about the signs of the Lord’s coming. Today’s readings may help us to reflect upon what it means to be a Christian in today’s world. For some people being a Christian is coming to church on Sundays, or often enough. Of course, coming to church is part of it, and the most important part of it (because of the Eucharist). But that’s not all. 1. For St. Paul, being a Christian was working for your own food, that is, minding your business. This means doing your job in a productive way, as one who expects fruit. A Christian does not cheat at work. A Christian should love what he does, ev...
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Why Was the Pharisee Not Heard?

  I find something interesting in today’s first reading (Sirach 35.15-17, 20-22). “The person whose service is pleasing to the Lord will be accepted, and their prayer will reach to the clouds . The prayer of the humble pierces the clouds , and it will not rest until it reaches its goal.” The prayer of the humble not only reaches to the clouds, but pierces the clouds and reaches God’s heart, obtaining what the humble person needs. 1. Mind you: the text begins, “The person whose service is pleasing to the Lord will be accepted, and their prayer will reach to the clouds .” One could think that the pharisee in today’s Gospel, and perhaps we ourselves (at least sometimes!), are people “whose service is pleasing to the Lord.” The works mentioned by the pharisee are not bad: “I fast twice a week,” he said, and “I give a tenth of all my income.” The pharisee’s actions are not bad, he is accepted as a child by God, and his service is pleasing to Him. But he does not obtain what he nee...
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Persistent AND Patient

  Today's readings teach us to be persistent and patient. In the Gospel, Jesus teaches us to be persistent and patient in prayer. St. Paul, in the second reading, urges Timothy to be persistent and patient in teaching. Persistence and patience are not the same. We are persistent when we persevere in doing the same thing always, time and again, whenever we are required to do so. Persistence requires discipline and commitment. Patience adds a further element of suffering: we are patient when we keep doing the right thing despite times being harder, despite opposition, in the face of different trials, etc. Thus, prayer needs to be persistent, and we sometimes are persistent, but we may give up when things don’t go our way and get discouraged. We were persistent, but because of lack of patience, we stop or relent in our prayers. In a similar way, the one who teaches might be constant and disciplined in delivering his message, but then, when people react harshly to his teaching and do ...
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Thanksgiving: Making Someone the King of My Heart

  Naaman, after being cured from his leprosy, wants to thank the prophet with generous gifts. The prophet, however, refuses to take anything from him. Naaman insists, but the prophet does not allow him to give anything. Naaman has received the gift of new life, he has been saved from death by God’s prophet, and he cannot do anything to express his joy and gratefulness to the prophet. What does Naaman do? I find it amazing: he asks for another favour. The one who wanted to give something, who felt obliged to give something in return, now asks for more gifts: “ please let two mule-loads of earth be given to your servant; for your servant will no longer offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god except the Lord.” Let me make a few points about thanksgiving. 1. Giving thanks is not paying for what you have received. It is realizing that what you have received is priceless. Giving thanks is giving yourself back to the giver in any way you can. And it is, first of all, acknowledging ...
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How to Become Truly Rich

  The once rich man wants Lazarus to go back to life to warn his brothers, but Abraham replies, “ If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.” It may seem a little extreme. But Jesus’ parable became a reality when a real man, also named Lazarus, rose from the dead… and the Chief priests, instead of believing in Jesus because of the miracle, “made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were deserting them and believing in Jesus.” ( John 12:10-11). How is it possible that a miracle like that would not make the Chief priests re-think their attitude toward Jesus? What can be more powerful than a miracle to convince someone of their mistake? Another question may lead us to the answer: who enjoys being found wrong? Who likes to recognize his or her own error before people? Is it not one of the most difficult things to do, acknowledging our own faults? The problem is pride. Pri...
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Thoughts on Humility

  1.  There is nothing more beautiful than a truly humble person. False humility disconnects you from people: false humility hides your true gifts to people who could benefit from them. True humility, instead, gives to others what you really have, not what you don’t have. True humility, because it comes from a true awareness of yourself, does not promise things that you cannot do or things that you cannot give. There are some who look humble because they want to stay away from work, or because they want to stay away from people. “I am not good for this or that, leave me alone.” Contrarywise, there are some who look generous because they want to be needed, but they promise more than they can actually give. Humility is a moderate estimation of ourselves coming from truly knowing ourselves. It is not opposed to self-esteem but is the only true self-esteem. When you are truly humble, you know what you have, and how much of it you have. And, if you are generous, you will offer ...
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Cost of Discernment: Renouncing all that is not of God

  (Homily for XXIII Sunday in Ordinary Time) [1] First week of September… Some of you may be back to work, some of you back to school... Time of questions. What are your priorities now? More importantly, whose advice are you taking to decide what you should do with your time, what you should “build” in this new year of activities, to what you should devote yourself? Who can know God’s counsel, or who can conceive what the LORD intends?  ( Wisdom 9:13) What are the criteria for discerning when I am hearing God’s “counsel” and when I am hearing either my own, or even the devil’s counsel? How do we find out what is God’s will for us? Unfortunately, for some people, this is not even a question: they think that whatever comes to their minds producing pleasant emotions must come from God. Today the Lord says tough things and very difficult to understand, so that we may realize that the voice of the Lord is not always so sweet. Today the Lord invites us to calculate the cos...
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