30th Week, Friday, Nov 3
Romans 9:1-5 / Luke 14:1-6
Paul talks about his own people; My heart pains for them.
Vance Havner tells this story in his book Though I Walk Through the Valley. An old preacher worked long into the night on a sermon for his tiny congregation. His wife questioned him on the wisdom of spending so much time for so few people. The tired man was unmoved, however. He kept right on working. The people in the old preacher's beloved congregation were more important to him than any amount of sleep or rest.
Paul had the same kind of concern for his own Jewish brothers and sisters. There was no personal sacrifice too great for their spiritual welfare.
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How willingly do we sacrifice for the spiritual or physical well-being of our own brothers and sisters? "Help thy brother's boat across, and lo, thine own has reached the shore.” Hindu proverb
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We are the new Israel, the people of God’s promise, the new chosen people. God has given us many privileges. Is the anguish that Paul expresses with regard to Israel not to be felt by the Church too, with regard to many Christians, and by many Christians with regard to a Church sluggish to seek renewal? Are we ready with St. Paul to dedicate ourselves, whatever the cost, to the salvation of our brothers and sisters, including those outside the Church?
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One of the distracting things that can happen when we are at work is when someone comes in unexpectedly with a request or the phone rings and the person at the other end of the line has a difficult issue to discuss. Whenever such things happen, our thoughts and ideas and concentration on our work gets thrown off and we may have to start all over again when we get back at it.
To us, it may just be another person with a request or another call to attend to. But whatever it is, the person has a need or a request, and that need may be urgent or important to that person. That person will certainly feel disappointed or frustrated if he were told to come back another day or to make an appointment first.
In the gospel, the man with dropsy may be having it for a long time. But the fact that he was standing in front of Jesus meant that he was hoping that Jesus could do something for him. Jesus was going for a meal but He didn't put the man on hold or tell him to come another day. For Him, that man could be cured immediately and He would do it.
We have our own work and it may be urgent and important. But let us also remember those occasions when we needed help immediately and we actually got it. We have to realize that it was God who sent us the help, and so we too must help others in their need when they come to us.
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Something of what this goodness means is shown in practice. When eating at the house of a prominent man on a Sabbath, Jesus cures someone there who suffers, even on a Sabbath. Love is the reason and inspiration of the Christian Law. Is it in our lives, in our Christian community?
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Prayer
God of all grace and peace, you have chosen us to be your kingdom of peace and love. But we have to acknowledge with shame that there is still much room for growth. Make our love richer, more sensitive, complete the work you have begun in us, that we may have a permanent place in your heart and reflect the perfect goodness of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen
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Saint Martín de Porres, 1579-1639
Feast day November 3
Patron saint of social justice and race relations
“Compassion, my dear Brother, is preferable to cleanliness. Reflect that with a little soap I can easily clean my bed covers, but even with a torrent of tears I would never wash from my soul the stain that my harshness toward the unfortunate would create.”
Martin de Porres was born in Lima, Peru, to parents of mixed race. Raised primarily by his mother, a freed slave, Martin experienced the effects of racism and poverty early in his life. He became the apprentice of a barber, learning not only how to cut hair, but to perform basic medical treatments. Feeling called to give his life to God in service of the lowly, Martin entered the Dominicans, who accepted him as a lay helper and later as a brother. He spent his days caring for the those who were sick and poor, as well as performing menial tasks within the monastery. His nights were spent in prayer, penance, and adoration. Martin treated everyone with respect and dignity, regardless of their race or social status. He was instrumental in founding an orphanage to care for Lima’s many street children.
At his canonization ceremony in 1962, Pope John XXIII said of Saint Martin: “He tried with all his might to redeem the guilty; lovingly he comforted the sick; he provided food, clothing and medicine for the poor; he helped, as best he could, farm laborers and Negroes, as well as mulattoes, who were looked upon at that time as akin to slaves: thus he deserved to be called by the name the people gave him: ‘Martin of Charity.’”
Saint Martin experienced the exclusion, derision, and discrimination of racism. Instead of growing bitter, he used his experience to reach out and comfort others. Martin’s unwavering love of God and devotion to the Passion sustained him in his charitable works that often went unacknowledged.
Who are the people that you exclude from your life or keep at a distance? Reflect on the subtle, or not-so-subtle, ways you discriminate against people who are different from you. Listen for how God might be calling you to a greater inclusion of others.
