• Isaiah 66: 10-14. God is portrayed as the new Jerusalem, a mother suckling her infant and receiving the wealth of the nations.
• Galatians 6:14-18. Paul boasts only of the cross of Jesus and bears the brand marks of Jesus in his body. Each one is to be created anew.
• Luke 10: 1-12, 17-20. Jesus sends forth the 72 disciples to announce that the reign of God is at hand. Upon their return, they are told to rejoice that their names are inscribed in heaven.

Thoughts for Your Consideration: By John Gonzalez

According to St. Paul the apostle, whose feast we celebrate this week, Christian ministry and evangelization is not an easy job. In this week’s reading St. Paul tells the Galatians that his apostolic boast is the pain and suffering that he now shares with Christ. In the preceding verses St. Paul critiques other Christian missionaries who compromise the Spirit of the Christian message by imposing the Hebrew ritual of circumcision which, according to Paul, is in no way essential for one to adopt the Christian way of life. He suggests that these other missionaries are compromising the message in order to not rock the social boat too much. They lightly promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a way that does not challenge society by imposing conventional rituals rather then a vigorous application of the Christian message. This is a compromise that St. Paul cannot accept. The Gospel message is a social challenge: it challenges society to adopt a message of peace and mercy, it challenges society to practice a social and economic equality based on our divine union with God and Christ, and it challenges society to practice the common good that serves us all.

The divine wisdom of the Gospel stands above the social wisdom of the world. If the message starts looking like a social or political agenda than chances are it is being compromised. The Gospel message is not a political platform; it is a journey towards personal and social conversion. Jesus sends out the seventy-two disciples to go into every town and preach the good news to all the people in their homes. They are not organizing a political base but they are winning hearts and minds towards a vision and relationship that surpasses all social hopes and dreams. The disciples return from this ministry with a positive experience which Jesus shares with them. Christian social justice is not built through a political platform that a group negotiates through an established political process. It is built through individuals becoming spiritually formed towards a communal vision of equality, mercy and peace.  

The Gospel of Luke seems to indicate that at the time that Jesus sends out the seventy-two His ministry is experiencing a positive and peaceful development. However, by Chapter 22, Jesus has His disciples recall this exciting and positive moment and now warns them to be vigilant and careful as they will now experience persecution. This of course will be foreshadowed by His own imminent passion and death.  By the time Paul is writing to the Galatians he finds himself in the midst of this persecution and he considers this suffering a badge of honor which demonstrates that he is doing the right thing.

At a recent Passionist Assembly author and Vatican correspondent John Allen presents to us on the ten trends that are changing the Catholic Church. In describing the rise of the Southern Catholic community, specifically in Asia and Africa John tells us that their emerging Catholic identity transcends the political ideologies that have divided our own Western Christian positions. He qualifies them as “Morally conservative, Politically liberal.” On issues of personal and especially sexual morality this emerging Catholic community is quite conservative. The issue of homosexuality and abortion is for them not an issue. Polygamy ends up becoming a thornier moral issue instead. But on the issue of economic and political matters they tend to look more liberal. They are skeptical on globalization and free market; they are generally anti-war and pro-environment.    

This report was quite a shock to many of us. I have tried to keep faith and spirituality independent of the American political agenda but when you live and breathe American politics it becomes an unconscious integration. The Passionists who sat in that conference room where from all over the political spectrum and many of us where challenged on this type of Catholic agenda that completely transcends the American political reality. This report reminded me of the following passage from C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity on what the Christian society would look like:

If there were such a society in existence and you or I visited it, I think we should come away with a curious impression. We should feel that its economic life was very socialistic and, in that sense, “advanced,” but that its family life and its code of manners were rather old-fashioned-perhaps even ceremonious and aristocratic. Each of us would like some bits of it, but I am afraid very few of us would like the whole thing.

If I were to push for an agenda that held a progressive social and economic platform along with a conservative sexual and family ethic I wonder how many people would follow this agenda. It seems like a very challenging platform and not a very popular one.  As C.S. Lewis put it I like some bits of this message but the entire package is quite daunting. And yet the goal we pursue in promoting the Gospel message is an ethic based on principles that would lead us towards this agenda. God bless St. Paul for being a true disciple of Christ in preaching the uncensored Gospel message with all its challenges and hopes. I only hope that I can have an ounce of St. Paul’s courage.

• 1 Kings 19:16, 19-21. The Lord directs Elijah to anoint Elisha as his successor. Elisha is permitted to say farewell to his parents and to provide a sacred banquet for all the people.
• Galatians 5:1, 13-18. Christ has freed us from slavery to the cravings of the flesh. Love your neighbor as yourself.
• Luke 9:51-62. Jesus begins his journey to Jerusalem, to his cross and resurrection. ?The expectations of discipleship are stated in startling, heroic proportions.

Thoughts for Your Consideration: by Fr. Phil Paxton, CP

In the second reading for Sunday (Galatians 5:1, 13-18), St. Paul writes, “Brothers and sisters: For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” Here, St. Paul is talking about slavery to the Law. But later on, Paul writes, “For you were called for freedom, brothers and sisters. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love.”

If we look at freedom as described by St. Paul, we get a different understanding of what freedom might mean for us. Freedom in the United States, I think, has been very much associated with independence. Freedom has often meant license to do whatever one wants, as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else (This last qualifying statement usually begs questions that are not easily answered). At the same time, living in Birmingham reminds me that slavery has been a real part of our history, of which we’re still feeling the effects. Freedom has not been the same for everyone.

So what does freedom really mean for us Christians? As St. Paul says, freedom is not to be seen as an opportunity for the flesh. Okay, then what? Perhaps it might be useful to use a phrase which is admittedly overused today. So often committees in almost every area (business, government, and even the church) speak about thinking “outside the box.”

If we were to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ seriously, we could see that it is the most “outside the box” thinking there is! In our Gospel reading (Luke 9:51-62), Jesus has set His sights for Jerusalem, and on the way, He and His disciples enter into a Samaritan town. The people in the town do not welcome Him because He is heading for Jerusalem. Right there, we see an example of thinking stuck in the past. For the people in that Samaritan town, Jerusalem symbolizes the ongoing conflict between the Samaritans and the Jews. This almost sounds too familiar. But James’ and John’s response to this is no better: “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Here, we see another example of worldly thinking: Revenge and violence are the first option. What if freedom in Christ meant to be free from resorting to force and violence to achieve our ends? Again, from Galatians, we read: “But if you go on biting and devouring one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another.” We have seen the fruits of seeking vengeance in every corner of the world, and yet we are still tempted to think of it as a viable strategy. Does that not sound like slavery?

But the freedom that Christ brings does not only speak to violence and retribution. It speaks to greed and self-indulgence. This, too, is a challenge for us. Should we not be free to make as much money as we can; to grab as much as we can; to live in the amount of luxury we can afford? As a country, should we not be free to pursue our national interests, no matter what? I think the answer might be found in our experience. Does not our experience show us that much of the time, the more we get, the more we want? Is this not also a form of slavery?

Freedom in Christ, as Paul says, means being free to serve others “through love.” In these times when we are concerned about terrorism, and there is strong sentiment against immigration, we are tempted to give up some of our independence to gain more security. But what if we were to give up some of our independence in order to commit ourselves to following Jesus and to serving others? I know this sounds crazy, but what if we were willing to give up some of our notions of what it means to be independent (e.g., license to do anything, radical individualism), in order to be really free, in Christ? It is freedom in Christ that brings real peace.

• Zechariah 12:10-11; 13:1. Through God’s grace of wisdom Jerusalem will remember and mourn the one “whom they have pierced” and with this great mourning Jerusalem will be redeemed.  
• Galatians 3:26-29. Our faith and baptism in Christ breaks down the barriers of division and marginalization. Through Christ we all become descendants of Abraham.
• Luke 9:18-24. Jesus is identified as “The Christ of God” by Peter. This identity is qualified with the inevitable suffering that will accompany Him and all who follow Jesus in taking up their cross daily.

Thoughts for Your Consideration: By John Gonzalez

The backdrop for this reflection is the 2010 Churches for Middle East Peace Conference. This week a number of Christian churches and organizations came together in Washington DC to explore the issues related to the violence that exist between Israel and Palestine. On Tuesday we went to Capitol Hill to advocate for peace in this conflicted region of the world. One workshop that I attended was from a Palestinian Christian clergy who presented on the plight of Palestinian Christians in the midst of this conflict. In sharing his experience Rev. Naoum mentioned how Christian and Jewish Zionist groups have utilized Sacred Scripture to marginalize the Palestinian community and to legitimize the occupation of Palestinian territory by Jewish settlers.

It was curious to me in reading the second reading for this week how St. Paul the Apostle reminds us that Christian faith is a faith that unifies rather than divides. The Christian faith breaks down barriers and walls ultimately celebrating us all as children of Abraham. How sad that in today’s day some Christians have chosen to reinterpret Scripture in order to marginalize others and to cause division in conflict in the Holy Land.     

Amazingly the first reading talks to us about a great mourning that will take place in Jerusalem. This mourning will take place as people recall the “him whom they have pierced.” For us Christians the “him” that the prophet Zechariah describes is none other than Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus who in this week’s gospel is identified as the “Christ of God:” the Christ that is called to suffer in order to bring around the messianic fulfillment of redemption. How is this redemption fulfilled? Jesus goes on to explain that the ongoing mission of redemption will continue with his followers who will continue to suffer for the sake of God’s truth and justice.

Today Jerusalem continues to suffer with the marginalization and occupation that Jesus experienced 2000 years ago. The actors and the situation have a changed but the injustice remains. The methodology of Jesus was compassion, mercy and unconditional love to all who suffered in this region. These actions were accompanied with the uncompromising prophetic/political message of a unifying social vision that transcended the divisive political realities that were part of his world. This vision challenged the power structure and authority in Jerusalem and for that Jesus and the early Christians suffered persecution and martyrdom.

The suffering that Jesus and the apostles endured has redemptive meaning. This first reading reminds us that although they pierce him and put him to death God’s grace of wisdom continues to shine through and as they begin to repent and mourn their action that will be the time that full redemption will occur. Unfortunately the human condition is very stubborn and it may take awhile before we come to an awareness of the unjust suffering we have caused.

For the Passionist community the act of remembering the passion of Christ calls us to keep in mind all who suffer the ongoing passion of social injustice in our world today. We who follow “him whom they have pierced” are called to carry the cross of being prophetic in the face of social injustice and to stand firm against oppression, marginalization and division by preaching the unifying Christian message that St. Paul shares with us in the second reading.

Our Christian faith tells us that Jerusalem will be redeemed. This issue of the Holy Land looks depressing and hopeless and so it is only by an act of faith that we are able to believe that peace is possible. Our uncompromising example of the compassion of Christ with all who continue to suffer will be the instrument of peace that will bring about the promise of redemption that was foretold by Zechariah.

• Luke 19:28-40 (Gospel for the Procession). Luke’s account of Jesus’ messianic entry into Jerusalem heightens the struggle which Jesus will face in the city and temple.
• Isaiah 50:4-7 In the prophecy of Isaiah the third Song of the Suffering Servant combines listening and abject humiliation with dignified strength.
• Philippians 2:6-11. Jesus emptied himself of his divine dignity, to be incarnated in our midst and suffer the humiliation of the cross.
• Luke 22:14-23:56. The Passion according to Luke portrays Jesus more frequently than the other gospels in prayer, in forgiveness, and in concern for others.

Thoughts for your own consideration: By John Gonzalez

I am on a train leaving Washington DC as I reflect on the lectionary readings for Palm Sunday. This past weekend a multitude gathered in the Capitol, marching and advocating for the rights of immigrants, refugees and displaced peoples. I cannot help but consider the similarity between the immigrant march and the historical moment when Jesus was triumphantly entering Jerusalem. The march brought a hundred thousand people to be in solidarity over an issue that concerns all of us. We all felt great. The success that some of us had with our representatives afterwards only fueled these powerful feelings. Likewise we read that Jesus entered Jerusalem with great fanfare. Even as the Pharisees request that the disciples tone down their message Jesus suggested to them that this excitement would continue with the stones themselves. In other words the energy was palpable, just as it was for us this past Saturday.

But even as we began to pack and head back to our respective regions many of us began to reflect on the challenging political atmosphere that is awaiting us. Our congressional representatives applauded this exciting event but they too reminded us of the pragmatic political reality that would compromise this initiative. I feel a deep sense of solidarity with Jesus who immediately after his triumphant entry wept over the city saying,   “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”

During the workshops over the weekend we were reminded of a value that is at the heart of the first reading and the Gospel. The suffering servant is distinguished by his ability to listen, pray and forgive. Issues such as healthcare, abortion and immigration touch people at their core because in some real way they are affected by these issues. This past weekend we in the United States have been affected by all three issues. People react to issues in any number of ways: they can be defensive, reactionary and possibly provocative (for or against the issue) or they may be thoughtful and reasonable and yet here again they may take any number of positions with the issues. The workshops taught us to listen to the legitimate feelings and frustrations of people who will share with us their perspective on these issues with us and to reconcile their feelings and concerns with the broader principles of faith. The Church, like Jesus, is called to be prophetic and to not compromise the values of the Kingdom of God. But in fulfilling our prophetic role we must raise these values while pastorally attending to the feelings and concerns of all the people who will be either in support or against the principles of our Catholic social teachings.

Jesus laments how the greater value of peace eludes the people of Jerusalem. The peace of God flows from the principles of the common good and the preferential option for the poor, principles that we learn from Jesus’ parables and teachings. But when people are challenged by issues that affect them directly, it may be too difficult for them to envision broader community principles that seem to go against their own self-interest. Our challenge is to listen attentively to their stories and to pray with them in hopes that we can walk together in reconciling their issues with the concern of all God’s people.

However there will be times that we will hit an impasse. We may have to endure insult and betrayal. This is perhaps the most challenging role of the suffering servant, but in following the ways of Christ we will be asked to forgive. Jesus forgives Peter, the executioners and the thief. He consoles the women in the midst of his own suffering. Being completely imperfect my own reaction is to vent my own frustrations when I encounter severe and sometimes irrational disagreements on social issues. But this is the challenge we are given in following the Lamb of God. The example of Jesus is to pray and to offer up to God these social challenges. It will be from God that we will get the courage to continue being both prophetic and pastoral.

• Joshua 5: 9-12. The feast of Passover is celebrated on the plains of Jericho. The Israelites eat the produce of the Promised Land, and the manna ceases.
• 2 Corinthians 5: 17-21. “The old order has passed away; now all is new.” Christ who never sinned became “sin” that we might become the very holiness of God.
• Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32. The parable of the prodigal son, the story of a father’s forgiveness and a brother’s anger.

Thoughts for your consideration: By John Gonzalez

The theme with the lectionary readings for this week is reconciliation. Immediately after reading these Scripture passages I began to reflect on the book “The Shack” by William Young. As I was reading this book I recalled how I had to pause once I became aware of the crime that became the central issue for the main character. Mack (the main character) is a father who experiences the kidnapping and violent murder of his youngest daughter. As a father of a liitle girl myself I considered this experience to be unforgivable. The rest of the book was a mystical journey for Mack to forgive the unforgivable. This was a powerful narrative and to be sure I was moved and challenged by the journey that Mack had with the Holy Trinity. But could I take this same journey with God? I would like to hope so, but in my heart I remain very much challenged with regards to this dimension of reconciliation.

In the first reading we are told about how God reconciles with the Israelites who have entered the promise land in a place called “Gilgal”. In the second reading Paul tells us that “we are ambassadors for Christ” whose mission “was reconciling the world to Himself.” The parable of the prodigal son is a challenging portrayal of paternal forgiveness.  We Christians know that we are called to forgive and to promote reconciliation with each other. Yet while we can accept this dimension of our Christian calling in theory, there comes a point where we ask the question that Peter poses to Jesus, “How often must I forgive my brother?”

Christian eschatology, the ultimate establishment of the Kingdom of God in our midst, is theologically understood in the “already but not yet” formula. Jesus declared that through him the Kingdom of God is already present, but with his ascension we also understand that the culmination of the Kingdom of God will happen sometime in the future. In Romans 8 Paul asserts that “all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now” and in this week’s second reading Paul also reminds us that “whoever is in Christ is a new creation.” Christian theology teaches us that in the Divine timeline the Kingdom of God began with Christ and we continue living in this transitional phase until the moment that the Kingdom of God is fully established in our midst, a moment we also call the second coming of Christ. What Paul is reminding us in the second reading is that during this transitional phase we are called to be ambassadors in our society for the values and principles of the Kingdom of God. An essential dimension of this is our obligation to end the social cycle of violence by promoting reconciliation in our world.

We are imperfect ambassadors in this transitional phase. Radical forgiveness and reconciliation is a Christian value that will challenge us in the same way that it challenged the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son. But what is just as important as the fact the father forgave his youngest son is that the father also goes out to the field to consult and journey with the older son to have him understand this challenging level of reconciliation. “The Shack” demonstrates this same point at a deeper and more intimate level when Mack journeys with each member of Holy Trinity.

In our world and in our society there will be events and incidence that will challenge our ability to forgive members of the human family that hurt us or our society. Our Christian commitment is to allow ourselves to be challenged and try in whatever capacity to at least comprehend our call to promote reconciliation between God and all humanity. There will be times that we fail and at the moment maybe we simply cannot forgive and instead we go out to the field in anger, but we are called to allow ourselves to be open to God during these challenging moments.

Now some may say, “well that is all fine and well in a parable or in a fictional book but where is this value reflected in real life?” I recall asking that very same question as I finished reading “the Shack”. That following week a gunman shot all the girls at an Amish school in Pennsylvania. To my absolute amazement the Amish community, in an act of social reconciliation, forgave the gunman.

• Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15. God calls Moses and reveals himself as “I AM”, from the burning bush.
• 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12. The exodus of Israel out of Egypt, through the desert, toward the Promised Land, “happened… as an example… [and] a warning to us, upon whom the end of the ages has come.”
• Luke 13: 1-9. The mystery of human events and the justice of God are typified in the fig tree.

Thoughts for your consideration: By John Gonzalez

The parable of the fig tree offers us an interesting point with regard to Divine justice. The fig tree is barren and unproductive. The owner represents a fairly typical social response to members of society that seem unproductive and worthless. From his perspective the barren fig tree should be cut down, “why should it exhaust the soil.” I think this phrase is very interesting itself. Consider the argument used for the poor and low-income communities in our society. Generalities are thrown out there that deem this population as being unproductive and with no visible social worth. Arguments based on these generalities are used against social programs for these communities: “Why should they continue being a drain on our society?”

But Jesus plays the role of the pastoral gardener. His role in this parable is similar to performing social analysis and nurturing the environment that up to this point is keeping the tree barren. The gardener is nothing less than a community organizer whose organization is the Kingdom of God. Jesus the gardener recognizes the negative environmental influences that have contributed to the barren quality of the fig tree. He addresses that limited environment in order to give the tree every opportunity to blossom into a productive member of the Kingdom of God. The element of personal responsibility is not lost on the image of the fig tree however since the gardener accepts that if under these changed environmental circumstances the fig tree still remains barren then it must accept the consequence of its inaction. The point of the parable is that the justice of Christ will accept this judgment once the negative environmental elements are addressed.

It is important to notice the issues that gave rise to this parable. Certain Galileans were judged to be great sinners because of the forms of natural (the collapse of the tower) and social (Pilate’s atrocity) suffering they endured. Jesus points out very clearly that God’s justice is not reflected in the way people suffer. Jesus also emphasizes twice that the inactive judgment by those who witness such suffering will lead them to a similar fate. We have recently witnessed a number of natural disasters in Haiti and Chile and social atrocities in Palestine and Somalia. Our role in following the good gardener is not to judge and dismiss the people who suffer but to analyze and address the negative social and environmental situations so that all people can have every opportunity to be productive members of a society that is based on the common good.

The first two readings emphasize this point even further. In the first reading God reveals his justice to Moses who will be His appointed agent for the liberation of the oppressed Hebrews. But in Corinthians we hear Paul offer us a symbolic interpretation of this historical liberation moment. Paul is warning the early Christians that they are living in the midst of this liberation moment. We, like the early Christians, are also living in the moment of liberation. We are called to liberate the world from social injustice and heal our society from natural disasters as part of our role of being gardeners for the Kingdom of God. Paul tells all of us who accept the responsibility of following Christ that we cannot accept a false sense of spiritual or social security that leads us away from the moral responsibilities we owe God and each other. Our Christian witness to the social and natural suffering in our days is not to stand by and cast judgments but to engage in solidarity with all who suffer and to cultivate the social and environmental landscape so that all our suffering brothers and sisters may have the opportunity to bear fruit for the Kingdom of God.

• Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18. By a covenant God renewed the promise to Abram (Abraham) of many descendants and their own land.
• Philippians 3:17-4:1. We eagerly await the coming of our savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will then give a new form to our lowly body.
• Luke 9:28-36. At Jesus’ transformation, Moses and Elijah appear and speak with him of his “exodus”.

Thoughts for your consideration: By John Gonzalez

In the fourth Chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans St. Paul offers a wonderful perspective on the faith and hope that Abraham had when God made his covenant with him:

He believed, hoping against hope, that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was, “Thus shall your descendants be.”

The readings today reflect the Christian spirituality of hoping against hope. In Genesis, Abraham accepts this promise that God makes with him in faith and he does so until his dying day since even then his only son, Isaac, never possesses the Promised Land as his own. In the second reading Paul, who at this time is mindful of his own impending death, instructs the early Christian community to place their hopes not in the tangible goods of this world whose “God is their stomach and their glory is in their “shame.”” Instead Paul tells them to place their hope in their “citizenship” in heaven and in Jesus Christ who “will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified body.”

And then we finally come to the Gospel passage where immediately sandwiched between the first and second affirmation of His own passion and death Jesus is transfigured with Moses and Elijah in the presence of the apostolic pillars of the early church. In this instance Peter, James and John are shown the transfigured glory that is to come and they placed their hope and faith in this new covenant even though they could neither comprehend it in the moment nor easily accept that negative social ramifications that is accompanied with following the transfigured Christ.

Like Abraham, Paul, and the first Apostles we too are called to hope against hope. We are called to place our hope not in the tangible and social dimensions of our reality but in a mystical and unseen purpose that transcends these social dimensions. This message from Scripture is all the more vital for us who are living in these difficult times. We have placed our hopes in economic and political ideologies that have unraveled. Here in the United States and throughout the western world we have become complacent with a certain lifestyle that is no longer sustainable. Even now, as we are struggling with the economic and social challenges of our time, are solutions are still based in the hope of bringing back a social model that was comfortable for many of us. But this is not the hope that Scripture is offering us.

Our hope is in a cosmological vision that transcends our reality but which also dictates our reality. The reason our former lifestyle is no longer feasible is because it was never sustainable. The principles of Catholic social teachings are calling us to envision a hope of a transfigured world where the love of God is visibly expressed through the deepening of our relationship and concern for one another and for the dignity of creation itself. In the Encyclical Spe Salvi Pope Benedict XVI tells us that: “Our hope is always essentially also hope for others; only thus is it truly hope for me too.”

Let us take some time to reflect on the readings and to consider the Christian message of hoping against hope in relationship to shared concern for all living things and in light of the social, economic and environmental situation we are facing. I also encourage any Catholic who would like to deepen their understanding of Christian hope to download or purchase the Encyclical Spe Salvi and to meditate on the pastoral message that Pope Benedict XVI is offering us in this encyclical letter.

• Jeremiah 17:5-8. Each persons experiences desert dryness at times; only the one with faith and deep roots in God survives and even bears good fruit.
• 1Corinthians 15:12, 16-20. If our hopes are limited to this life only, we are the most pitiable of all people. If Christ has been raised from the dead, he is the first fruits and we will follow.
• Luke 6:17, 20-26. How blest you poor… you hungry. The reign of God is yours. Your reward shall be great in heaven.

Thoughts for your Consideration: By Fr. Sebastian MacDonald, CP

Issues of justice, along with peace and integrity of creation, involve balance.  Justice is a matter of preserving some kind of equality between two (or more) parties.  It doesn’t have to be absolute equality, but enough to preserve the integrity of the exchange that occurs between people.  On that basis, people are then free to advance their own concerns.

This matter of balance is to the fore in today’s scriptural readings.  Jeremiah expresses it in describing the divine-human relationship, calling upon the familiar landscape of Judea to illustrate it.  Things become troubled when there “is no change of season”.  For seasons balance each other out: the dry counters the wet, the hot offsets the cold.  When that doesn’t happen, trouble occurs, just as when a person neglects his relationship to God, and throws his life out of balance.

Paul says much the same thing regarding the balance Christians strike between death and resurrection.  They need each other to depict what Christian existence is all about, thanks to our relationship to God.  Death without resurrection is troubling, just as resurrection proposed without death as part of the scenario is senseless.  There is a balance to affirm in the relationship prevailing between death and resurrection.

Luke hones this sense of balance in the context of common human experiences, such as riches attained without the background of poverty, or abundance enjoyed without any sense of hunger, or constant merriment at hand with no sensation of grief, or acclamation received without opposition or criticism.  He presents Jesus as seeing only woes in store for those deprived of this awareness.

The imbalances portrayed in today’s scriptures are types of injustice, since they picture a distortion of the exchange that is to prevail at different levels of our lives.  This is of concern to God, Whose role in our lives entails an “admirable exchange” between our needs and His gifts.

Tomorrow we celebrate Presidents Day, focusing especially on two significant men, quite similar to each other in this matter of justice as a form of balance.  Both tall men (6’3” and 6’4” respectively), they were married to short women (5’).  Men of few words (the one said hardly a thing at the Constitutional Convention, the other was “the most closed-mouth man” his friend had ever known), both good wrestlers and horsemen, both honed in the cauldron of war (The Revolutionary war, the Civil war), both defenders of the geographical integrity of the nation (one opposed to the sale of the Louisiana territory, the other to the division of the union), they sought a balance in the exchange between the views of a Hamilton and a Jefferson, and between pro-and anti-slavery forces.  Both men strove for the rudiments of justice amid contentious exchanges.  Neither was a church-going person, but each recognized concerns similar to those that Jeremiah, Paul and Luke express today in laying out God’s expectations that we live our lives sensitive to the balances that are to prevail.

• Isaiah 6:1-8. The prophet’s inaugural vision and call to ministry.
• 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. Paul transmits the creed preached in the early church about the resurrection of Jesus. “I handed on to you what I myself received.”
• Luke 5:1-11. A miraculous catch of fishes. Peter’s protestations of unworthiness; Jesus’ call of Peter, James and John to be fishers of men and women for the kingdom of God.

Thoughts for your consideration: by John Gonzalez

This week’s reading shares the sense of unworthiness that Isaiah, Paul and Peter had as they were all called to serve God. These three each identified themselves as sinners and humbled themselves before God and Christ before accepting their new mission to be a prophet or preacher for the kingdom of God.  It is interesting for me to see the different professional areas that are covered between them. Peter is a simple fisherman and a hardworking common man. Paul is a theological academic who was trained as a Pharisee. Isaiah is a politician in the service of the royal court of King Uzziah. These are three very different people with three very different professions. In each case they all experienced a significant change in their life that seems to have rocked the very foundations of their relatively stable lives. In each case they realized how unworthy and sinful they all were before reluctantly accepting their new divine mission.

The role of humility cannot be understated in what took place with these three people. At the moment that they humbled themselves before God and Christ they became open to another way of thinking. They were able to accept a major paradigm shift that had gone against the social reality they were used to. Isaiah was quite skilled with his “unclean lips” that dominated the political atmosphere of the royal court. Paul was zealous for protecting the traditional Pharisaic doctrine that he had studied under. Peter was used to a certain style of fishing and was obviously in charge of his own fishing crew. And yet, after suffering some form of setback, they all allowed themselves to be open to a new way of seeing their world and of serving something beyond their own social profession.

The three readings revolve around God or Christ calling each of them to a new life and ministry and after they all humble themselves to God they accept their new calling. The Book of Jonah would be interesting for us to examine in relationship to this theme. In this case Jonah already exists as a prophet of the Lord and he seems to have quite a reputation in this field. God calls on him again to fulfill another mission within his prophetic ministry but Jonah, in his professional arrogance, reluctantly accepted the mission but was greatly disappointed with God for being merciful to a people Jonah wanted to condemn. In the end Jonah was “angry enough to die.”

The distinction here is how Peter, Paul and Isaiah were humble and submissive to God’s ways while Jonah allowed himself to be filled with arrogance and pride. The issue in our own world is not that God is no longer calling people to Him but that many of us chose to see the world only from the perspective of our own opinions and desires and thus reject opportunities to serve God and His church because they do not meet our expectations. In my experience with parishes and retreats I have come across a number of people with good intentions who are ready to offer social criticisms against society and the church based on personal experience or political platforms and when they are challenged on some of the church’s social issues that do not fit their own opinions they can become defensive and sometime dismissive to the entire social teachings of the church rather than allowing themselves to being open to a broader social vision.

Just like Peter, Paul and Isaiah we too are called to serve God through our own baptism into the church. Vatican II reminds us of this in their document to the laity: “The laity derive the right and duty to the apostolate from their union with Christ the head; incorporated into Christ’s Mystical Body through Baptism and strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit through Confirmation, they are assigned to the apostolate by the Lord Himself.” Through the church and religious communities like our own opportunities exist for people to take part in promoting a greater social vision based on divine principles that make up the Church’s social teachings. These include such principles as the common good, solidarity, human dignity, preferential option for the poor and care for the integrity of creation. If we allow ourselves to be open to the possibilities of service then we will become aware of these opportunities that we are given to be at the service of God and His divine mission.

• Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19. Jeremiah’s call to prophesy; his strength against all opposition.
• 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13. The hymn of Love
• Luke 4:21-30. Jesus’ first discourse at Nazareth leads to rejection, even to a threat against his life.

Thoughts for Your Consideration: By John Gonzalez

The readings for this Sunday revolve around the position and responsibilities of a prophet. Jeremiah describes his own calling By God to be “A prophet to the nations.” Jesus Christ emphasizes his prophetic mission by taking up the prophetic responsibilities that are described by Isaiah. The second reading is St. Paul’s famous hymn of love. St. Paul places the virtue of love above all other virtues and as he describes spiritual gift of prophecy he reminds us that the ability to comprehend all mysteries and knowledge is for nothing if it is not done for love.

A prophet is one who critiques society and conventional laws based on the articles of faith and our limited ability to discern the Divine law. If you consider the 8^th Century Prophets especially Micah and Amos you see that their critique was not limited to only spiritual matters. In fact they usually addressed socio-economic issues. This is precisely what Isaiah is describing in the selection that Jesus is reading: “He has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.” This selection from Isaiah is a central message for Jesus in proclaiming the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom is both spiritual and social. It is a Kingdom yet to come in God’s own time but it is also a Kingdom that Jesus expects his followers to initiate within their own society. For that reason the early Christian community established a communal life in Act 2:42 to initiate a social lifestyle based on the Kingdom of God.

Our Christian theology tells us that Christ transcended the structures of society by fulfilling the three great social roles of his day in Himself. Jesus Christ is Priest, Prophet and King for us who are called to be children of God. He is Priest in that he fulfilled the perfect mediation between heaven and earth through his one sacrifice. He is Prophet in that he revealed to us the Will of God and critiqued society based on Will of God. He was King in that through His divinity he has power on heaven and earth and is the supreme ruler of the Universe. In following Jesus we are not merely applying a spiritual asceticism but we are submitting ourselves to a Divine Will that governs all aspects of our existence. There is no separation of the spiritual, natural and social realms. The Kingdom of God transcends all dimensions. It develops an appropriate spirituality establishing communion between us and the author of creation and it is the basis for critiquing unjust social structures and establishing social policies that value the common good. Vatican II’s document on the laity reminds us that we who are baptized into the Body of Christ have these same responsibilities: “As sharers in the role of Christ as priest, prophet, and king, the laity have their work cut out for them in the life and activity of the Church.”           

In our own day a prophetic role would be very similar to some non-governmental organizations. Think tanks usually offer social critiques to legislation or policies that do not conform to the particular mission of the organization. Project oriented organizations attempt to establish some kind community program again in alignment to the mission of the organization. Faith based institutions such as the Catholic Church have also organized a variety of organizations which are prophetic in nature. Catholic Relief Services, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and Catholic Charities are such organizations. Catholic Religious communities have also organized valuable organizations like the Center of Concern and NETWORK. It was with this intention that the Passionists organized a Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Office. Our Church is the vehicle for promoting the vision of the Kingdom of God in its priestly, prophetic and kingly dimensions. Going to Church on Sunday is only the first step in engaging this vision. The sacrifice of the Mass gives us the spiritual context for applying our own prophetic responsibilities. Participating with the recent March for Life is one such prophetic task that the Church organizes for us. In a few weeks a number of Catholic organizations will organize another advocacy event on immigration and economic justice. With the recent earthquake in Haiti the Catholic Church and many religious communities have called us and our nations to act justly and with great charity to those who suffered from this natural disaster.  This is the prophetic task we are called to fulfill.

We are called to be prophets. The example of Jeremiah and Jesus tells us that this will not be easy. We are definitely being challenged outside of our comfort zone to critique our own society and that may not make us socially popular. But God promises to be with us, even when we feel abandoned. Jeremiah and Jesus suffered greatly for their prophetic ministries. But again their reward is not a matter of national honor but the service of the Kingdom of God. Empires and nations come and go. The Kingdom of God is eternal.

As we serve the prophetic challenges in our own society let us keep in mind St. Paul’s admonition to always remember the virtue of love. It is our duty to challenge society on issues that violate the Gospel message but we do this within the framework of God’s love for all humanity. We raise issues of abortion, immigration and economic justice not to cast judgment or to divide a nation. We raise these issues because through these policies we help fulfill a vision for the Kingdom of God which is ultimately meant to unite the human family and all creation with God. If we raise these issues in a way that is divisive or to serve a partisan agenda then we are being political rather than prophetic.