5 February 2025 - homily for Thursday of the 5th week in Ordinary Time - 1 Chronicles 29:10-13

Father Pedro Arrupe was a priest from the Basque region of Spain who served as the Superior General of the Jesuits from 1965 to 1983. He is considered the second founder of congregation of the Society of Jesus based on the impact he had on that religious order. Trained as a medical doctor as well as a priest, he was stationed in Hiroshima, Japan in 1945 at the time of the nuclear bombing there at the end of the second world war. He used his medical training to attend to the wounded and the dying there after the bombing. As the superior of the Jesuits during the implementation of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, he had this to say: ”If we speak a language no longer appropriate to the hearts of people, we speak only to ourselves because no one will listen to us or try to understand what we say.” He was a strong advocate for justice and for the social teachings of the Catholic Church. He once said this: "To be just, it is not enough to refrain from injustice. One must go further and refuse to play its game, substituting love for self-interest as the driving force of society." He resigned as superior of the Jesuits in 1983 after he suffered paralysis from a stroke. He died on February 5, 1991. His cause for sainthood was opened by the Jesuits in 2018 when he was declared a servant of God. I remember seeing exhibits related to him in the sanctuary of Loyola in the Basque Country in Spain when I stayed there for a month praying the 30 day Ignatian spiritual exercises in the summer of 2019. I was impressed by his leadership of the Jesuit order in a very tumultuous time in the Church right after the Second Vatican Council. 

Our psalm today is not from the book of psalms, but rather from the first book of Chronicles from the Old Testament. We have been hearing a lot of psalms recently that have been traditionally attributed to King David. Today’s psalm is a powerful prayer of praise by King David to God. He acknowledges God's supreme greatness, power, glory, majesty, and sovereignty over everything in heaven and earth. It states that riches and honor come from God. He gives thanks to God for his everlasting rule and ability to give strength to all people. It is good for us to praise God and give him thanks in our prayers.