32nd Week, Friday, Nov 17
Wisdom 13:1-9 / Luke 17:26-37
The film Lawrence of Arabia deals with the life of Colonel T. E. Lawrence, the British army man. Lawrence spent years living in Arabia. One day Lawrence told of an Arabian sheik who heard a Western scholar bragging about the power of the telescope. The sheik listened attentively. When the scholar finally stopped talking, the sheik said, “You Westerners see millions of stars and nothing else. We Arabs see only a few stars-and, God.” Today's reading makes the very same point.
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Sherlock Holmes once told Dr. Watson, "You see, but you don't observe." Is this true of us also? “Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God. But only he who sees takes off his shoes; The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.” E.B. Browning, Aurora Leigh
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The author of Wisdom accuses non-Jews of being blind. They see the beauty of creation, but they fail to recognize the creator behind them, so much so, that they begin to adore created things.
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The world of nature is both beautiful as well as powerful. The sun, the wind, the sea have the potential to be reckoned with. The stars, the moon, the mountains capture the attention and imagination with their quiet attraction. In primitive religions, nature worship is generally about the worship of nature spirits that are considered as present in the natural phenomena and are the source of modern religious beliefs.
The 1st reading begins by saying that naturally stupid are all men who have not known God, and who, from the good things that are seen, have not been able to discover Him-who-is. It continues by saying that if charmed by their beauty, men have taken things for gods, then men must also know how much the Lord of these things excels them since the very Author of beauty has created them.
But with science and knowledge, the mystery of natural phenomena is logically explained away, and where once upon a time, man is subjected to nature in the form of nature worship, now nature becomes subjected to man.
But that doesn't immediately mean that man now recognizes God as the Creator of the world and all things in it.
Instead, man now sees himself as the master of the world and even sees himself to be like a god who can abuse and destroy and waste away the natural resources of the world and even disfigure the beauty of the world. So modern man doesn't search for God anymore. Rather they look for ways and means to make a profit from the world for their own selfish gains. Man doesn't need a God, because he sees himself as a god.
As much as they have no excuses not to know who the true God is, we also do not have any excuses not to pray for their conversion. Let us remember that the God we believe in is the God of love and He wants all men to be saved.
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Giving examples of episodes from Scripture, Jesus presents the mysterious, astonishing and uncertain nature of the day of the Son of Man. Using the symbol of vultures surrounding a body, Jesus alludes to the uncertainty of this day. Since we do not know the day or the hour, we must always be prepared. The first stage of the preparation is the awareness that the coming of the Son of Man can be at any time, sometimes when we least expect it. The second stage of preparation is to have a realistic vision of life. Life is not limited to eating, drinking, making merry, and getting married, as in the days of Noah and Lot. The third stage of preparation is recognition of the value of time: Time and tide wait for no one. What is more important is to remain fully prepared for the coming of the Son of Man rather than worry about the exact time of his coming.
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Jesus reprimands those who fail to see the signs of his coming in judgment. His coming is not an exceptional event, for Jesus blames the people for their careless lack of vigilance in daily life. He keeps coming, and this is why people have to be ready always.
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Prayer
Our saving God, we are your people on the march who try to carry out the task of giving shape to your kingdom of love and peace. When we are discouraged and afraid or careless, keep us going forward in hope, make us vigilant in prayer, that we may see the signs of your Son’s coming. Let Jesus walk with us already now on the road he has shown us, that he may lead us to you, our living God, forever and ever. Amen
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Saint Elizabeth of Hungary
Feast day November 17
Elizabeth was born in 1207. Her father was Alexander II, the king of Hungary. Her marriage was arranged when she was just a child, and at age four, she was sent to Thuringia for education and eventual marriage. When she was 14, she married Louis of Thuringia. They loved each other deeply.
According to legend, Elizabeth went out with loaves of bread to feed those who were poor. Her husband saw her and took hold of her cape to see what she was carrying. What he saw was roses rather than bread! Because of this, she is also known as the patroness of bakers. Louis supported her in all she did to relieve the suffering of those who were poor or sick. But Louis’s mother, Sophia, his brother, and other members of the court resented Elizabeth’s generosity. She was taunted and mocked by the royal family, but deeply loved by the common people. Louis loved her and defended her. They had three children.
In 1227, after six years of marriage, Louis went to fight in the Crusades. He died on the way. Elizabeth was grief-stricken. Her in-laws accused her of mismanaging the finances of the kingdom, forcing her and her children out of the palace. For a while, they found refuge only in barns. Finally, they were taken in by her uncle, the bishop of Bamberg. When her husband’s friends returned from the Crusades, they helped restore her to her rightful place in the palace. Elizabeth increased her service to others. She was 24 when she died. She was canonized only four years later. Elizabeth is symbolized by a triple crown—for roles as a member of royalty, as a mother, and as a saint, crowned in heaven. She is the patroness of the Franciscan Third Order and of all Catholic Charities.
