33rd Week: Nov 14-19
Nov 14 Monday:
The context: Jesus was going to Jerusalem to participate in the feast of Passover. At Jericho, there was a big crowd of pilgrims walking along, listening to Jesus’ teaching. Beggars used to sit on both sides of the road, as the pilgrims were very generous, and the people used to line up on the roadside to greet the pilgrims. A blind beggar on the roadside was told by his friends that Jesus of Nazareth, the miracle worker, was passing by. So, the blind man repeatedly shouted at the top of his voice, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” The pilgrims listening to Jesus’ teaching tried to stop the beggar’s loud cry, but in vain. Jesus stopped, called the beggar to him and asked him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The beggar answered, “Lord, let me receive my sight,” and Jesus replied, “Receive your sight; your Faith has made you well,” and at that moment the beggar was able to see. This miracle was Jesus’ reward to the blind man for his trusting Faith in the healing power and compassionate heart of the Messiah. St. Augustine described the urgency with which we should respond to God’s gift, to His passing us on the road: “I fear Jesus may pass by and not come back.”
Life messages: 1) We, too, need healing from our spiritual blindness which makes us incapable of seeing and appreciating the living presence of God within ourselves and others. For that healing, we also require the same trusting Faith the blind man displayed in the healing power and mercy of Jesus, and the same persevering persistence in our prayers. We need to pray with conviction, urgency, and constancy. 2) We need to repeat the prayer of the blind man, “Lord, let me receive my sight,” when our Faith is feeble, when we cannot understand the reason behind God’s plans, and when our commitments become shaky. God gave us eyes so that we can see. God gave us a heart so that we can see better. Let us use them all the time.
(Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Nov 15 Tuesday: (St. Albert the Great, Bishop) :
The context: The theme of today’s Gospel is the benevolent and forgiving mercy of God for sinners and the response of repentance and conversion expected from us. The story is that of the instantaneous conversion of the tax collector, Zacchaeus. As the chief tax collector in Jericho, Zacchaeus was probably a man of much wealth and few friends. Since he worked for the Romans and extracted more tax money than required by the law, he was probably hated by the Jews who considered all tax collectors as public sinners. The account describes how Jesus recognized Zacchaeus for exactly who he was – a lost sinner in need of a Savior. Jesus’ response lets us see how God’s grace worked in Zacchaeus to lead him from idle curiosity to repentance, conversion, and the making of restitution. The episode emphasizes the fact that such a conversion can only result from a person’s fully receiving the love, acceptance, and grace of a merciful Lord. The story of Zacchaeus reinforces the lessons of the fifteenth chapter of Luke in which a lost sheep and a lost coin are found, and a lost son is embraced. It also demonstrates the fact that nobody is beyond the possibility of conversion.
Life messages: 1) We need to accept the Divine invitation to repentance. We are all sinners to a greater or lesser degree. Jesus is inviting each one of us to total conversion today by means of this Gospel lesson. Let us remember that Jesus loves us, in spite of our ugly thoughts, broken promises, and sullied ideals, our lack of prayer, our lack of Faith, our resentments, and our lusts. Hence, let us confess to Him all our weaknesses and sins, repent, and ask Him trustfully for His Mercy. 2) We need to love others in spite of their sins, as Jesus loves us. Jesus loved Zacchaeus—a great sinner — and by that love, Zacchaeus was transformed. As parents or teachers, can we lovingly accept our children without first setting up their standards of behavior as conditions for being loved? Just as Jesus loved Zacchaeus, even though he was a public sinner, so we must love others in spite of their sins. Jesus expects this of us. 3) We need to be set free from selfishness and choose generosity: Zacchaeus was changed from being greedy to being generous, from selfishness to selflessness. When we feel the warmth of God’s presence within us, that warmth will, in itself, melt our coldness and selfishness, leading us to repentance and generosity.
(Fr. Tony) https://frtonyshomilies.com/
Nov 16 Wednesday :(St. Margaret of Scotland)
The context: The central theme of today’s Gospel is an invitation to live in such a way that we make the best use of the talents God has given us, so that at the hour of our death Our Lord will say: “Well done, good servant! Come and share the joy of your Master.” The parable of the talents challenges us to do something positive, constructive, and life-affirming with our talents here and now.
The parable: A very rich Master, about to set off on a journey, entrusted very large sums of money (talents), to three of his servant-slaves (10 according to Luke 19), each according to his personal ability: five, two, and one. He wanted them to do business with the money in his absence. Through skillful trading and investing, the servant-slaves with the five talents and the two talents managed to double their master’s money. But the servant slave with one talent buried it in the ground for fear of loss in business. On the day of accounting, the Master rewarded the two clever servant-slaves and punished the third servant-slave whom he called “wicked and slothful.” He took the third servant slave's talent and gave it to the first servant slave.
Life messages: 1) We need to trust God enough to make use of the gifts and abilities He has given us. We may be especially talented in teaching children, or cooking meals, or repairing homes, or programming computers. Let us use our particular gifts in the service of our families, our Christian community, and the wider society. 2) We need to make use of our talents in our parish. We should be always willing to share our abilities in creative worship in the Church and in the various ministries in our parish, such as Sunday school teachers, singers in the choir, volunteers, and/or members of one or more of the various parish organizations and community outreach programs. 3) We need to trade with our talent of Christian Faith: All of us in the Church today have received at least one talent namely, the gift of Faith. Our responsibility is not just to preserve and “keep” the Faith, but to work with it and grow with it We need to promote and add value to Faith by living it out.
(Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Nov 17 Thursday: (St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious)
Context: It was when two-and-a-half million people were present in Jerusalem to celebrate the Jewish feast of Passover that Jesus’ followers paraded with him for a distance of two miles from the Mount of Olives to the city of Jerusalem. But when the procession reached the spot from which there was a magnificent view of the city of Jerusalem, Jesus started to weep. Later, Jesus explained why he loved the city, which was the center of Judaism, Yahweh’s promised place of terrestrial residence and the culminating point of Jesus’ public ministry. He could not foresee without tears its destruction in A.D. 70 by Titus, who would totally demolish the Temple and the city after massacring most of its residents. Jesus explained the destruction of the city as a punishment from God because its inhabitants had failed to recognize the time of their visitation. In other words, Jerusalem had closed her doors, and her inhabitants had closed their hearts, to the salvific coming and message of the Redeemer. In spite of Jesus’ preaching and healing ministry among the Chosen people, they had largely rejected him, and their leaders were planning to crucify him.
Life messages: 1) Jesus visits each one of us as our Lord and Savior and teaches us through the instruction and preaching of the Church. We hear Jesus’ voice when we read Holy Scripture, and Jesus offers us forgiveness of sins and grace through the Sacraments. So we should not reject Jesus or his message as the Jews did, nor remain indifferent to him, but listen to God’s warning about our need to repent, renew our lives, and walk in God’s ways of peace and holiness.
2) We are the temples of the Holy Spirit, and we have no right to desecrate God’s temple by harboring jealousy, discrimination, injustice, or impurity in our hearts
(Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Nov 18 Friday: (The Dedication of the Basilicas of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles) ;
St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, Virgin (U. S. A.)
Context: Today’s Gospel gives us the dramatic account of Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple in Jerusalem. He drove out its merchants and moneychangers with moral indignation at the unjust commercialization of God’s House of Prayer and the exploitation of the poor pilgrims in the name of religion. The merchants charged exorbitant prices for the animals to be sacrificed, and the moneychangers charged unjust commissions for the required exchange of pagan coins for Temple coins. The Temple Jesus cleansed was the Temple in Jerusalem, originally built by Solomon in 966 BC, rebuilt by Zerubbabel in 515 BC after the Babylonians had destroyed it, and in Jesus’ day was still being renovated, a work begun by King Herod the Great in 20 BC. The abuses which infuriated Jesus were: 1) the conversion of a place of prayer into a noisy marketplace, and 2), the unjust business practices of animal merchants and moneychangers, encouraged by the Temple authorities. Hence, Jesus made a whip of cords and drove away the animals, the dealers and the moneychangers, quoting the prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah, “Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace”(Lk 19:46; see also, Is 56:7; Jer 7:11).
Life messages: 1) We need to avoid the business mentality of loss and profit in Divine worship. Our relationship with God must be that of child-to-parent, with no thought of loss or gain, but only of mutual love, respect, and the common good. 2) Secondly, we need to remember that we are the temples of the Holy Spirit. Hence, we have no right to desecrate God’s temple by acts of impurity, injustice, pride, hatred, or jealousy. 3) We need to love our parish Church and use it. Our Church is the place where we come together as a community to praise and worship God, to thank Him for His blessings, to ask pardon and forgiveness for our sins, and to receive His offered healing and nourishment. Let us make our Church an even more holy place by adding our prayers and songs to community worship and by offering our time and talents in the various ministries of our parish. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
Nov 19 Saturday:
The context: Jesus reached Jerusalem for His final Passover feast. As part of a well-planned plot to trap Jesus, the chief priests, the scribes and the Pharisees met Jesus with controversial questions. The Sadducees did not believe in resurrection of the dead because they claimed that Moses wrote nothing about it. If Jesus defended the concept of the resurrection, the Sadducees would be angered; if Jesus failed to do so, the Pharisees would be enraged. In either case, one group would be alienated. Hence, in their hypothetical question, they asked Jesus who, in Heaven, would be the husband of the woman who had been married (levirate marriage) in succession to seven of her brothers–in-law (levires), and had died childless.
Jesus goes on the offensive as defense: Jesus begins the counterargument by pointing out the ignorance of the Sadducees about the existence and nature of life after death with God. Then Jesus provides positive Biblical proof for the reality of resurrected existence. Jesus is presuming that Yahweh’s burning bush statement demonstrates that these three patriarchs were still alive at the time of Moses, 600 years after their deaths. Since God declared Himself to be God of the patriarchs, He must somehow still be sustaining the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, thus granting them resurrection and eternal life. Thus, Jesus uses the Sadducees’ sacred text of the Torah to refute their anti-resurrection belief. Second, Jesus explains that the afterlife will not be just an eternal replay of this life. Things will be different after death. Normal human relationships, including marriage, will be transformed. Then Jesus tells the Sadducees that those to whom God has granted resurrection and Heavenly life with Him will be immortal, like the angels, and hence “children of God.”
Life messages: 1) We need to live the lives of Resurrection people: That is, we are not to lie buried in the tomb of our sins and evil habits. Instead, we are to live joyful and peaceful lives, constantly experiencing the Real Presence of the Risen Lord Who gives us the assurance that our bodies also will be raised. 2) The salutary thought of our own resurrection and eternal glory should also inspire us to honor our bodies, keeping them holy, pure, and free from evil habits, and to respect those with whom we come in contact, rendering them loving and humble service. (Fr. Kadavil) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
