28th Week, Tuesday, Oct 17
Romans 1:16-25 / Luke 11:37-41
Paul talks about God; Creation witnesses to its creator.
The puppets are merely the vehicles by which he expresses his love for her. Paul says the same thing about creation. It is the vehicle by which God speaks to us about himself and his love for us.
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To what extent do we agree that "earth is but the frozen echo of the silent voice of God”? Samuel M. Hageman "The sky is no less blue because the blind do not see it.” Danish proverb
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What really matters for us, what makes us what we should be, is faith. “The one who is righteous will live by faith.” Faith will make us live. But for Paul too faith is not just a belief in tenets. Faith expresses itself in deeds.
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It can be rather difficult to explain why some people believe in God and yet there are also others who don't. As for those who don't believe in God, the 1st reading tries to give an explanation. It says bluntly that what can be known about God is perfectly plain since God Himself has made it plain. Ever since God created the world, His everlasting power and glory, however invisible, have been there for the mind to see in the things He has made.
The problem is that the impiety and the depravity of men keep the truth of God imprisoned in their wickedness. But that is not confined to just those who do not believe in God. Even for those who say that they believe in God, they have to be aware of this "wickedness" in them.
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As Jesus told the Pharisees in the gospel: You clean the outside of cup and plate, while inside yourselves you are filled with extortion and wickedness! So even people who believe in God, even religious people, can succumb to the internal wickedness as those who don't believe in God.
But for us who believe in God, it is necessary for us to clean out this wickedness in us, and there is a solution. As Jesus said in the gospel: Give alms from what you have and then indeed everything will be clean for you. So, if we say we believe in God, then the proof of it is that we will give alms and serve the poor. Not only will it cleanse our hearts, but it will also deepen our faith in God who cares for the weak and the poor and helpless.
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In today’s gospel, Jesus reacts against pious Jews who stress the observance of the externals – laws, rules, customs – without inspiration and motivation from inside. Most probably the Pharisees were sincere in practicing these outward regulations, but they easily gave the ones practicing them the conviction of saving themselves through them. In fact, in today’s world too, externals count heavily. People buy things for their wrappings. Appearances are often all that matters... It is not the shining cup that matters but the contents. Indeed, the contents must be first-rate.
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Opening Prayer
Lord, our God, Jesus touched the dead and unclean lepers to raise them to life and to heal them. Let us not be afraid of dirtying our hands to help people but of soiling our tongues to tell lies and to besmear the good name of our brothers and sisters, to quarrel with them and to hurt them. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Saint Ignatius of Antioch
Feast day October 17
Ignatius was a convert to Christianity. When he was named the second bishop of Antioch, Syria, Ignatius became a successor of Saint Peter. In 107, Emperor Trajan tried to force Christians to renounce their religion.
Ignatius allowed soldiers to bind him in a rickety cart and lead him to Rome for martyrdom. As his cart rolled into towns, local bishops and Christians came to meet and encourage him. His friend Saint Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, received him with great honor, because he saw Ignatius’s holiness.
On the journey, Ignatius wrote seven letters to the churches he left behind. The letters give insight into the growth of theology. Ignatius praised the love and support he experienced on his way to Rome. He insisted that the people obey their bishop and act only with his approval. “Wherever the bishop is, there let the people be, for there is the Catholic Church.” (Letter to the Church at Smyrna 8.1–2) Ignatius wrote that Christ was present in the Church, in each member, and in the Blessed Sacrament. Of himself, he said, “I am the wheat of Christ, may I be ground by the teeth of beasts to become the immaculate bread of Christ.” He asked his people to gather around the Eucharist and to care for “the widow, the orphan, the oppressed, as well as those in prison, the hungry and the thirsty.” (Letter to the Church at Smyrna 6.2) He called himself “the bearer of God.” Ignatius was devoured by wild beasts in the Roman amphitheater.
