Do not grow discouraged; Return to your former deeds.
It was halftime in the Dallas Cowboy-St. Louis Cardinal game on Thanksgiving 1985. A reporter was interviewing Lou Holtz, newly appointed head coach of Notre Dame's football team. "What's the first thing you're going to do to try to get the 'Fighting Irish' back to their old winning ways?" asked the reporter. Holtz surprised everyone by saying, He writes, "I'm going to work on establishing three things with my players: love, trust, and commitment." Holtz's formula for returning Notre Dame to its winning ways is what Jesus himself would prescribe for people who want to return to the ideals of their former life. They must trust that they can change, commit themselves to change, and use love as their motivation for change.
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How far have we drifted from our old ideals? "Until we lose ourselves there is no hope of finding ourselves." Henry Miller
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From today until the end of the Church year we read from the book of Revelation, apocalyptic writing. The author wants to express trust in God and the future, for ultimately God will win the struggle between good and evil, involving not only the earth but also heaven intervening. He does not know how, and to a large extent he is guessing, using traditional apocalyptic images, many inspired by religious experiences of God’s people in the past, and trying to apply them to the present but even to the future. But underlying all this, even when describing calamities, is the firm faith and hope that God will win and that therefore there is no reason to be afraid.
After Jesus had scolded the apostles for their lack of understanding and faith, Luke shows him curing the blind man. Is it perhaps to teach the apostles a lesson and show them that they need to be healed from their blindness by faith? In any case, Jesus becomes light and gives light to the blind man. We ask our Lord to give us eyes of faith.
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The test of our zest and fervour, of commitment and conviction, of love and faithfulness, will be over the test of time. Under the test of time, we will know where we stand in the areas of our work and our relationships, and also in every aspect of our lives.
We may start with something with zest and fervor and profess our commitment and declare our conviction.
But as the days go by, with its monotony and repetitiveness, we get bored for a lack of variation and variety. We are not as excited and energetic as when we first started. It can happen with marriage, with caregiving to the elderly, with a job, and even in our relationship with God.
Like the blind man who has his sight restored by Jesus, may we "see again" and love God and others deeper.
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Prayer
God, almighty Father, each of us too could say: Let me see again, for I am blind to the love that you show me in the people around me. Let me see again, for I am blind to your goodness and beauty that you reveal to me in your creation and in the events of life. May we too hear from the lips of your Son: your faith has saved you. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen
The eating of the scroll symbolizes that John has assimilated its content. The content is sweet while he assimilates it, but turns sour in his stomach. John's reaction reveals a twofold fact about the Christian life. The revelation of the scroll contains the sweet promise of victory for the Christian. But the price of the victory is a certain amount of pain and suffering. There is a basic principle of Christianity at work here. The Christian life contains the sweet promise of heaven, but the Christian must be prepared to pay the price of pain that the struggle for heaven will involve.
How willing are we to struggle and suffer in the present to attain eternal life in the future? "No Christian escapes a taste of wilderness on the way to the promised land." Evelyn Underhill
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Today the author of Revelation reflects, like Jeremiah and Ezekiel before him, on his prophetic role. The word of God is sweet-tasting to him, but contains a bitter message of warning he has to preach.
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No matter how wonderful or awesome someone or something might be, after some time we will get used to it. Whether it is a new relationship or a new interest, after a while, the initial fervour will cool off. And then we begin to take it for granted and become rather casual with it. It can even happen to something sacred and holy. And that was the situation that Jesus was addressing in the gospel passage.
The Temple, which was the house of God, which was also a profound sign of the presence of God among His people, was being taken for granted and even the religious authorities were rather casual with it. The Temple was not just a building but it was to be a house of prayer where God meets His people. But Jesus made this remark - "you have turned it into a robbers' den. We may not be so brazen as to turn God's house into a robbers' den. But we may be complacent and take things for granted because we have gotten used to it and become casual in our relationship with God.
Jesus reminds us that God's house is to be a house of prayer and worship. Our attitude in the house of God also reflects our relationship with God. May we not take that for granted and become too casual or used to it.
Jesus drove out the merchants from the Temple and it might be a good time to ask ourselves: What has the Lord to drive out from us to make us better Christians? What stands in the way of being closer to him in the life of every day? What matters for us Christians is that we are attached to the Lord and close to the people he has entrusted to us. Then we can worship him with our whole life.
Let us Pray
God our Father, we often turn our hearts into houses of pride and greed rather than into homes of love and goodness where you can feel at home. Destroy the temple of sin in us, drive away all evil from our hearts, and make us living stones of a community in which can live and reign your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord forever and ever.
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Feast day November 16
For Saint Margaret—a wife, a mother, and a queen—giving money was never enough. She stood with the poor, making sure they had food and clothes. Margaret was born about 1045. She was raised in the Hungarian court, for she was from the line of nobility. When she was 12, she was sent to the English court of Edward the Confessor and further educated. When the Normans conquered England, Margaret, her mother, her brother, and her sister tried to return to Hungary. Their ship was blown off course and landed in Scotland. They were welcomed by King Malcolm III, who fell in love with the beautiful and gentle Margaret. They were married in 1070.
Scotland was a rough country, and although Malcolm was a good man, he was more of a soldier than a scholar or courtly gentleman. But Margaret helped him become a virtuous, gracious leader. They had eight children; all grew to love the poor and care for them as their parents had. The youngest, David, was thought of as a saint by the people.
Margaret was prayerful. She gathered women together to study the Scriptures and to embroider vestments and altar cloths. She was always surrounded by beggars, and she gave them money and clothes. She helped ransom the English who had been captured, and she set up homes and hospitals for those in need. She and her husband would go to church during Lent and Advent. On the way home, they would wash the feet of poor people in need and give them money. At home, Margaret fed nine orphans who were brought to her daily. She brought a love of the arts and education to the people, and they loved her in return. Her children are believed to be primarily responsible for two centuries of progress and peace in Scotland.
Margaret died four days after her husband’s death in 1093. In 1250, she was canonized and later declared patroness of Scotland.
