• Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18. The Lord hears the cry of the oppressed. It pierces the clouds and does not rest till it reaches its goal.
• 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18. I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. I look for Christ’s appearance with eager longing. The Lord will rescue me and bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom.
• Luke 18:9-14. The parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee. Despite good behavior, the proud person is not justified; the humble person returns home justified.

Thoughts for Your Consideration: By John Gonzalez

This week’s lectionary readings remind us not to be complacent. The Gospel sets the tone for this message with the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisee praises his righteousness very publicly to God and all. His behavior seems to merit some good recognition but in this parable Jesus is emphasizing a preference for the humility of the sinner to the self- righteousness of the Pharisee. The tax collector recognizes his failings and in humility he looks towards God for forgiveness and mercy. The tax collector is willing to change. He recognizes his failings and he humbly requests God’s grace to be good in all sincerity. But the Pharisee has defined for himself what it means to be good and not surprisingly he meets his own requirements. A good person fasts twice a week and pays tithes. With this self defined criteria for being good the Pharisee then goes on to use that criteria to separate himself from all humanity “O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity.” What a solitary declaration. The Pharisee is complacent within his own social construct of what it means to be good. Jesus tells us that this righteous complacency will not do.

In the second reading Paul is towards the end of his life and he is recounting his current situation to Timothy. But while he may have “finished the race” he does not stop running. In the passages that we skip over Paul requests that Timothy go get Mark and join him as soon as possible to “help me in the ministry.” In the verses immediately preceding this passage he warns Timothy that complacency is endangering the Gospel mission:

Proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient… For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths.

The first reading comes to us from the great Jewish philosopher Sirach. Here we have in scripture one of the finest formulations of the Catholic social principle “The Preferential Option for the Poor.” Sirach defines God as justice; “who knows no favorites, though not unduly partial toward the weak.” God sets the example of not being complacent toward those who suffer social injustice. He hears the “cry of the oppressed” and the marginalized widows and orphans. Curiously verse 15 is omitted in the Lectionary which reads; “Do not the tears that stream down her cheek cry out against him that causes them to fall.” This is a powerful statement. God hears the oppressed but in hearing them He recognizes the unjust person that caused those tears to fall.

Sirach tells us that social injustice will not go unanswered. God will respond. St. Paul, Timothy, Mark and Luke serve the Gospel by addressing the liberating word of God and they will not stop least complacency sets in. Jesus warns us all that we must guard against any attitude of righteousness and complacency especially when it causes us to despise other people. The Gospel parable is very specific in reminding us that the priority of our actions are not found in rituals or self imposed practices but in the desire to humbly change and grow into the one human family where we all can identify with the social responsibility we owe one another.

It is only human for us to waver and at times to seek a complacent social lifestyle. There have been many times when I have found myself craving a lifestyle that offers stability, security and relative convenience. I have desired this especially in these uncertain times. But unfortunately we as Christians are not called to this. Our mission is to continue promoting the Gospel message and to build the community of God’s love throughout the whole world. This great mission comes with great challenges as St. Paul the Apostle was discovering but even then he does not allow complacency to overtake him as he prepares the mission’s continuance even after he is gone.  While we must be patient with this endeavor and we will need to pause and periodically take our breath we cannot delude ourselves into becoming socially complacent in any way. We must always challenge ourselves to see the responsibility we own one another. We must never find ourselves despising others or judging an entire group we feel does not meet our own criteria for being good. For as Jesus says to rich young man, “there is only One who is good” (Mt. 19: 17). Let us strive this week to humble ourselves to the One who is good and to serve our true Lord by serving ALL of God’s people but especially those who are oppressed and marginalized since God is asking us to address those concerns now, without delay.

The history of our founder demonstrates that he placed great emphasis in equating the mystery of Christ Passion and death with the ongoing suffering that people continue to experience. This message of redemptive suffering was a prominant part of his charism and continues to be a core part of Passionist spirituality. However St. Paul of the Cross was also well known for his dedication in placing a priority on the suffering of the poor. As he developed the religious community which originally he called “the Poor of Jesus” and then eventually he went with “Congregation of the Passion” he placed a special emphasis in having this community serve the poor and marginalized in central Italy. There was a place called the Maremma (marshes) where people who were poor and sick with leprosy and turbuculosis (among other diseases) were sent. Although there were many Priest and clergy in those days almost none of them would go to these places, one of the reasons for this is because teams of roaming bandits also lived in these places to escape the civil authority. So St. Paul of the Cross made it a point to preach and minister to this community.

In his writing St. Paul of the Cross often discussed this social concern which could rightfully be considered a “Preferential Option for the Poor.”  

Whichever one of you has to manage the temporal affairs of the house should do so with gentleness, patience, and humility. If you have debts, beg your creditors, should you be unable to pay, to have compassion on you out of love for God. Control your temper. If others owe you anything, try to secure payment without going to court. Have pity on everyone, especially the Lord’s poor. - February 21, 1721

We ought to be grateful and correspond to his divine benefits by loving justice, truth, and exercising charity and the works of mercy towards our neighbor, especially to the poor. - December 26, 1772

Following the teaching of the Prince of the Apostles, and that before everything else holy charity may flourish in the Congregation, especially toward the poor sick, we ordain that these are to be cared for with all charitable attention to the extant that our poverty permits. - May 20, 1775

As the preaching fame of St. Paul of the Cross developed the founder found himself traveling throughout Italy preaching missions wherever he went. There are a number of testimonies that discuss how he integrated this justice for the poor. One amazing example of this is offered by his own biographer St. Vincent Strambi.

As this true disciple of his Divine Master, all love and charity, could not do alone what he wished for the poor, he labored in their favor as much as he could, making use of the opportunities that the giving of holy missions and similar employments afforded him. On one occasion, when Father Paul was giving the exercises publicly in a city in 1759, he found out that the poor were in distress because they were obliged to pay back the loan of wheat received for their nourishment during the past winter from the public deposit, without having the means of repaying it, as the harvest had been very scanty that year. The law was just going to be carried into effect against them, and the poor creatures were reduced to extreme distress. Father Paul, moved with compassion for them and their misery, recommended so earnestly and forcibly from the platform to those gentlemen that governed this public office to grant some delay. Showing so tender and cordial a compassion, he moved the hearts of the Vice President and all the gentlemen who had anything to do with the affair, and obtained that payment should not be called for until the following year, to the universal consolation of the poor. He grieved deeply when the poor were abandoned. 

After he passed away in and the process for his canonization took place many came and testified on behalf of this great mystic and Saint. During these testimonies it necame evident that St. Paul of the Cross had a prominant saying that pretty much defines his perspective on justice to the poor.  

Look at the poor, there you will find the name of Jesus Christ written on their foreheads.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOJBmPcUl8Y

• Isaiah 35:4-7 – God comes to open our blind eyes, to clear our deaf ears, to strengthen our lame legs, to turn the thirsting ground into springs of water.
• James 2:1-5 – Your faith must not allow favoritism. Did not God choose those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith?
• Mark 7:31-37 – Jesus has done everything well! He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak

Thoughts for your consideration: By John Gonzalez

This week’s readings invite us to embrace our limitations. The power of Jesus and the prophesy of Isaiah are not measured by social, political or economic dominance. Instead we are told that the Kingdom of God is manifested when the wounded members of the human community are made whole through the power of God. Through God the blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dumb will speak. For us to truly appreciate the meaning behind these two readings we need to move away from literal interpretation and ask, “Who is the blind person?” The 9^th Chapter (verse 39) of the Gospel of John will help us with the spiritual significance of these readings:

Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.

We humans are all limited. While we may see and hear we are limited by what we see and hear from the narrow perspective of our experience. This experience may cause us to place faith on our own political ideologies or financial abilities. Others will base their own perspective from their national or tribal allegiance while some may identify more with a certain social class. In this sense we all suffer from some kind of social blindness. None of us can claim to see or comprehend the Kingdom of God. If we choose to open ourselves to ways of God and Christ then we must first humble ourselves in accepting our own limitations. However we must also be open to the fact that this perspective is going to challenge us to serve all of God’s creation instead of ourselves. St. Paul of the Cross used the term “the greater good” in his spiritual writings to help us make the distinction between the self serving good that we tend to desire and the true but challenging good that comes from God.

How beautiful it is to suffer with Jesus… let us use every endeavor to seek holy perfection, humility, obedience, and, above all, a continual resignation to the Divine Good Pleasure. You think what is happening is opposed to your good; to the contrary, you should know these are designed by your loving Spouse for your greater good.   

Only in accepting the will of God and in serving God’s creation can we truly be made whole. Symbolically the blind and deaf were made whole by accepting the grace and power of God to preach the Good news in words and in deeds. All of us who suffer from some form of blindness need to humble ourselves to the Divine Will from which we can gain the true sight where we can begin to comprehend the greater good that serves God and all of creation.

The second reading from James reminds us of our social blindness. Social favoritism is as much an issue in today’s day and age as it was for the early Christian community. How many times do we not equate a favorable attitude to those who wield some form of social power and status while dismissing the panhandlers and beggars who confront us? I continue to be guilty of this social sin. The point is not to wallow in our own guilt but to reflect on this social reality and as much as we can we need to adjust our own personal attitudes and social positions to consider the wounded human community that have just as much God given dignity as we all have. It is for this reason that Catholic social teaching has raised the principle known as the “Preferential Option for the Poor.” The poor are a constant reminder to us that the greater good of society is not being met. We must prioritize the good of our own family and local community for which we have been given responsibility for. But we must never allow ourselves to be blind to the reality of the poor and marginalized in our midst.

These social lenses may challenge us to our very core, but as the readings remind us, this is where God comes in.

Thoughts for your consideration:

Last week we left the Jerusalem community trying to comprehend the Easter mystery. Through the name of Jesus, whom they crucified, a crippled beggar was healed by Peter. The readings included the Gospel from John in which Jesus himself explains the mystery of his death and Resurrection. We also read from Acts and the first letter from John in which both Peter and John attempted to explain not only the transformation of Jesus through the Resurrection, but also the transformed community life of the apostles.

In this week’s first reading we return to Peter and John, now before the council, again explaining the healing of the cripple. Peter had informed the community of their ignorance in having Jesus crucified. But now he admonishes the council for rejecting the cornerstone that is Jesus. What attracts my attention is that if we read a little ahead of today’s Gospel and first reading, we get a political picture of how the social powers of Jerusalem responded to Jesus and the early Christian community. Chapter 11 of the Gospel of John has Caiaphas declaring to the council “it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” With this declaration the Jewish council sought to have Jesus put to death.

In Acts, Caiaphas again shows up towards the middle of Chapter 4. The council’s attempt to silence the movement of Jesus by putting him to death has backfired. They are baffled at the apparent power and courage of these “uneducated and ordinary men” who followed Jesus of Nazareth. Now they realize that they have to be even more cautious. Instead of publicly punishing Peter and John they try to have them censured. This of course will also not work. A wise Pharisee by the name of Gamaliel explains why towards the end of Chapter 5; “if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them – in any case you may even be found fighting against God!”

I hear many people offer wonderful comments about the movie “The Passion of the Christ” by Mel Gibson. It is a good movie insofar as it allows us to experience the pain of Jesus’ Passion. But one criticism I offer is that it completely separates itself from the social causes that led Jesus to the Cross. Similarly it also excludes the social implications of what it means to be a Christian. In reading the Gospel of John and Acts one gets a sense of these social dimensions. Jesus challenged the powers of his time with his message of solidarity with all members of the human community, including the Gentiles and the poor. The image of the Good Shepherd is the image of the one who brings together all people who are marginalized from the single human community that was created by God the Father. Jesus tells us, “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.”

The Apostles are very much aware of the social implications of being a follower of Christ. Peter and John recognize their call to heal the sick and to bring back the sheep that continue to be marginalized from the fold. They recognize this mission to promote the ultimate solidarity with all humanity that is the Kingdom of God.

In the second reading John uses an expression that conveys this image of solidarity under Christ. He reminds his community that “we are God’s children now.” We are part of this divine family and like our brother Jesus we must continue to challenge society by promoting the ultimate solidarity of God’s love for all humanity. That will inevitably challenge the power structures of today just as Jesus and the Apostles challenged the power structures of their day.

This solidarity calls us to reconcile all members of society both the wealthy and those who live in poverty. Catholic social teaching offers us the principle of the “Preferential Option for the Poor”. The Catholic Campaign for Human Development has a very simple and direct statement connecting Jesus as the Good Shepherd and the Preferential Option for the Poor. It can be found at http://www.usccb.org/cchd/jesus_shepherd.shtml. Please take some time to reflect on this principle and our calling to follow the Good Shepherd.

Questions for Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group:
• When have you experienced the care of a “Good Shepherd?”
• How has this experience helped you to shepherd others?
• The first letter of John refers to all of us as “children of God.”
• When have you experienced solidarity with those who are in need?
• When have you experienced a connection with people who were poor?