11/11/2014 – Tuesday of 32nd week of ordinary time – Luke 17:7-10

       I have remarked many times to my parishioners that while we enjoy hearing the Gospel readings that are comfortable, consoling, and encouraging, we often don’t like Scripture readings that make us uncomfortable or that challenge us. We like to hear the stories about Jesus healing people, reaching out to the poor and feeding the multitudes, don’t we?  But what about the message in today’s Gospel? When we do a good job and when we go out of our way to do something nice for someone, we like to be shown gratitude and appreciation. Perhaps the point of this parable is that even after the servant has done his daily work, he is still the servant, and he should be ready to continue in his service to the master.  We are not to just do the minimum as Christ’s servants and followers. We are not just to do what we think is required of us or expected of us.  We need to give of our whole selves, to be ready to serve Christ at every moment of every day.  Since this is our identity and our being, it should not seem like drudgery.  We are called to serve Christ with joyful hearts.
       We are called to emulate Mary's willingness to serve God with her whole heart, as she saw her identity as the handmaid of the Lord.  We are called to emulate the humility of the many missionaries who sacrificed and died for the faith.  On Veterans' Day, we think of all the men and women who served in the military to protect their country.  Like all these examples of faith, may we always be open to be servants of the Lord.  May we live out our faith with our entire being.  

11/12/2013 – Tuesday of 32nd week in Ordinary Time – Wisdom 2:23-3:9

     Our first readings this week are from the book of Wisdom.  Part of today’s reading is often reading at our Catholic funeral mass, stating that “the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them”. Many in our world still believe that when our earthly existence comes to an end, there is no more life for us. Yet, the book of Wisdom sees a different destiny for those who place their hope in the Lord.  Our reading concludes today by asserting: “grace and mercy are with his holy ones, and his care is with his elect.”  We started the month of November with the celebration of All Saints Day and All Souls Day.  These important feast days in our Catholic faith are in the spirit of what we hear from the Book of Wisdom today.

      Josephat is the saint we celebrate today.  He was a bishop in present-day Belarus in the early 17th century.  Josephat was killed by an angry mob because he was advocating that his community of Christians, who were Ruthenians and who were a part of the Orthodox Church, be joined in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.   There is so much division in our world and in Christianity as well, even in our modern era.  When the Roman empire was split into the East & the West in the 4th century, it foreshadowed what was to come about in the 11th century, when a great schism split the Church in the year 1054. There have been signs of reconciliation and friendship in recent years between the Churches in the East & the West, but, unfortunately, Christianity still remains very divided. 

     We think about the struggles, the challenges, and the obstacles we have to overcome on our journey here on earth. The eternal life we hear about in today’s reading from Wisdom is to encourage us and to give us hope on the journey, to help us live out the calling God has for us in life.