Holy Name Monastery
Founded 1889
While historians do not have a definitive date for the Christian beginnings of All Saints’ Day, it is believed by many, to have been initiated by the Greeks. In the fourth century, they chose the first Sunday after Pentecost to honor all saints and martyrs.
In 837 CE, All Saints’ Day was authorized a holiday by Pope Gregory IV.
Continue ReadingFirst Reading Wisdom 
11:22—12:2 Second Reading 2 Thessalonians 1:11—2:2
Gospel Luke 19:1-10
Have you ever been to a parade, or a concert or a sports event where you couldn’t see much more that a sea of hats or heads? When that happens, a periscope may be just what you need – you know, one of those things they use in submarines to see above the surface of the water … you can see over tall objects, even around corners.
Well, today’s story is about such a situation. A man went to a parade, but couldn’t see above the crowd. The main attraction in this parade was man who had become quite famous because he had performed many miracles. He had raised people from the dead and restored sight to the blind; he cured people of leprosy and drove out demons. This man Jesus, Luke tells us, was passing through Jericho. Notice He wasn’t intending to stay overnight. The atmosphere was like a circus parade. People lined the streets hoping to get a glimpse of Jesus. Zacchaeus REALLY wanted to see Jesus! But he was small of stature and he didn’t have a periscope
Remember the song …. Zacchaeus Was a Wee Little Man ….
So what’s a short guy to do? He runs on ahead of Jesus and climbs a sycamore tree. Now, I’ve read that people in the Middle East do not generally run and they wouldn’t be caught climbing a tree. Zacchaeus would have had to run a long way ahead of the crowd to have time to climb up this tree and get a view of Jesus. The law – the city codes – did not allow the planting of sycamore trees within the city limits. They had to be planted at least 75 feet outside the city walls. So, Zacchaeus had to run past everyone in town to climb up that tree. Now, just imagine that parade of people surrounding Jesus. Most had their attention focused on Jesus but surely some would have spotted the little thieving rich guy climbing up in the sycamore tree.
Jesus arrives under the tree and looks up to Zacchaeus. Their eyes meet. Jesus called Zacchaeus by name. He made eye contact, and spoke to him face to face. Jesus communicated to Zacchaeus that he was glad to see him. How embarrassing for Zacchaeus. You can just hear the people taunting him, shouting insults, and calling him names. Jesus knew everything there was to know about Zacchaeus, yet He still loved him and still had compassion on him. What a picture of grace! That’s how it is for us, too. Jesus knows everything there is to know about us, but He still loves each of us.
Jesus silences the crowd and His voice rises above the din of their taunts and shouts. He absorbs the ridicule and shame of Zacchaeus upon Himself and invites Himself over for supper. The people in the crowd were shocked! Zacchaeus was one of the most hated men in all of Jericho. They considered him a thief and a cheat! No observant Jew would dine with this sinner. Yet, Jesus chooses to honor the tax collector by staying at his house. The crowd couldn’t believe it! Of course they grumble. Jesus, on the eve of the Passover, hadn’t planned to stay in town. And now he’s going to stay and eat in an unclean house? Jesus is defiling Himself. Zacchaeus gets down from the tree and gives his famous speech. He promises, if he has ever cheated anyone, to give half of his goods to the poor and restore four times the amount he has ever stolen.
That’s when Jesus makes the bold declaration, “Salvation has come to your house!” Zacchaeus got saved! He was born again! Experiencing the love of Christ, he became more concerned about others.
Jesus doesn’t say that Zacchaeus is saved because he plans on repaying everyone. Salvation has come to Zacchaeus’ house because He is simply lost. In his search for salvation, he humbled himself by making a spectacle of himself climbing up a tree. Perhaps you have heard the saying, “To reach the fruit of a tree, you must go out on a limb.” That’s exactly what Zacchaeus did.
One Biblical scholar has described the paradox in this story. “Zacchaeus is spectacular because he is not like other characters who encountered Christ. He was not called as the disciples were, nor was Zacchaeus suffering from some kind of affliction. What makes Zacchaeus so special is that he was an average man.” Most of the characters in the Bible experience a call from Christ either as a personal invitation or through the public preaching of Jesus. Others sought Jesus because of some affliction. Zacchaeus was different. He was a successful business man – and a wealthy one! An interesting part of this story is that, as far as we know, Zacchaeus did not change jobs after his encounter with Jesus. He did not join the entourage that traveled with Jesus. He was a tax collector before he met Jesus, and it seems he continued collecting taxes after he met Christ. His job was the same, but his destiny was different.
The text says Zacchaeus was “seeking” Jesus. But if I read the story right, Jesus really was seeking Zacchaeus. He came to seek and save all the lost. Zacchaeus tried to climb up to God, but he didn’t get past the lowest branches. Zacchaeus gets to host Jesus that evening because Jesus invited Himself to celebrate the Passover meal. Jesus always ends up being the true host. Jesus invites Himself here today. If you’ve come to seek good news, it’s the same the message Jesus spoke to Zacchaeus: “Come down; salvation has come to your house. I want to dine with you this night.”
Continue Reading
First Reading Sirach 35:12-14,16- Second Reading 2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18
Gospel Luke 18:9-14
It is important to note at the outset of this particular reading to whom Jesus is speaking in this parable. Luke says: “Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt.”
The whole parable is a study in contrasts between the prayer of the Pharisee and the prayer of the tax collector. Jesus teaches us, his listeners, to pray in humility before God. He surprises his listeners, including us, by highlighting the tax collector as the example of faith – a model for prayer. He reminds us if we are too full of ourselves, there is too little room for God’s grace to work in us.
It’s interesting to notice that everything the Pharisee says is true. He has set himself apart from others by his faithful adherence to the law. He is, by the standards of his day what Luke and Jesus seem to term, righteous. So before we judge him too quickly, we might reframe his prayer slightly and wonder if we have uttered it ourselves. Maybe we haven’t said, “Lord, I thank you that I am not like other people…”, but what about, on seeing someone down on her luck, “There but for the grace of God go I”? It isn’t that the Pharisee is speaking falsely, but rather that the Pharisee misses the true nature of his blessing. As Luke says early on in this reading, he has trust in himself. His prayer of gratitude may be addressed to the God, but it is really about himself. He credits his righteousness entirely in his own actions.
The tax collector, on the other hand, does not even raise his eyes to heaven. He knows that he possesses no means by which to claim righteousness. He declares he has done nothing of merit. So, he stands back, hardly daring to approach the Temple, and throws himself on the mercy of the Lord. He seems not so much humble as desperate. He is too overwhelmed by his plight to take time to divide people into categories. He stakes is hope entirely on the mercy of God.
At the end of the day, the Pharisee will leave the Temple and return to his home righteous. This hasn’t changed; he was virtuous, honorable, and righteous when he came to the temple. That hasn’t changed … he’s still righteous when he leaves the temple. His mistake, as Scott Peck says, is that he thinks that whenever he wants to he can pull “God out of his back pocket.” On the other hand, the tax collector will leave the Temple and go back down to his home justified, that is, accounted righteous. As Luke expresses it: he is exalted in God’s eyes because he humbled himself.
If you’re spiritually alive, and give credit where credit is due, you’re going to love this take on the parable. If you’re spiritually dead, you won’t even want to hear / read it.
If you’re spiritually curious, there is still hope!
A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of his hometown newspaper and
complained that it made no sense to him at all to go to church every Sunday………
He wrote: “I’ve gone for 30 years now, and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons, but for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one of them. So, I think I’m wasting my time, the preachers and priests are wasting their time by giving sermons at all”.
This started a real controversy in the “Letters to the Editor” column. Much to the delight of the editor, it went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:
“I’ve been married for 30 years now….. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals…… But, for the life of me—- I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals.
[Or we might say: I’ve been in community x number of years… in that time I’ve been nourished and supported by my Sisters thousands of times in hundreds of different ways …But, I can only recall a few instances in detail ….]
But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife (my community) had not given me those meals, I would be physically dead today.
Likewise, if I had not gone to church – been faithful to my time of private and communal prayer – for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!” AMEN!
First Reading Exodus 17:8-13. Second Reading 2 Timothy 3:14—4:2
Gospel Luke 18:1-8
Here we have a lesson about perseverance in prayer. The point of the story is not that prayer is nagging God for what we want. Nor is it meant to teach us that God is like the judge in the parable – worn down by requests and coerced to respond.
The key to understanding the meaning is found in the description of the judge as corrupt and unjust. Since God can be neither, we must understand Jesus to be saying that if even an unjust judge responds to the persistence of the widow, how much more will God listen to our prayers. God truly wants to hear our needs and respond generously. Didn’t Jesus say: “Ask and you shall receive?” Jesus is telling us that God wants us to be like the persistent widow, staying in relationship with God, confident that God hears and answers prayers. And He understands how easy it is to lose heart. He asks: “Will such faith, the faith of the widow, be found when the Son of Man returns?”
A beginning of the answer to the question appears to be that the Son of Man will find faith, but it may be in unexpected places, as it has been in the Gospel — not among the religious professionals or the ones certain of their own righteousness, but among the outsiders, the unlovely, the unclean, the ones certain of their sinfulness.
The parable suggests that a sign of faith will be a willingness to persist in prayer, as we see in this widow who persists against all odds in her fight for justice against the powerful judge. Another sign may be in what we pray for: daily bread, the Holy Spirit, the coming of the kingdom, justice.
In his gospel, the evangelist Luke portrays widows as vulnerable but at the same time prophetic, active, and faithful. The widow of this parable is forceful enough to get the justice she demands even from an utterly unjust judge.
If we could read the Greek version of this parable, we’d get a glimpse of Jesus sense of humor. Now by “Greek” I don’t mean the language we refer to when we say “It’s all Greek to me.” In the Greek Scriptures the judge gives in to the widow because if he doesn’t he fears she may give him a black eye. Jesus uses a metaphor from boxing to make his point about the need to continue in prayer. Be as persistent as a boxer in the ring when it comes to prayer. Jesus gives a second teaching in the parable. If an unjust judge answers the pleas of a widow how much more will God answer our prayers. We just don’t know WHEN. Remember the words of the prophet Habakkuk? “The vision still has its time and will not disappoint.” God takes the long view … knows what is best and we may sometimes have to wait until we’re, as they say: “on the other side of the grass,” where we’ll understand that all along God knew best.
Luke seems to be very much aware of the real danger of giving up, of losing heart when we suffer injustice. Luke is saying that if we pray hard enough and if we don’t lose heart, God will give us justice, right? Well, does God? Is there justice in the world? In our country? In our local communities, and (sadly) in our churches? We have only to watch the evening news or read the day’s headlines to learn of multiple cases of brutality and injustice.
Could it be possible that God’s justice looks different than our justice? Good question. Yet, somehow I trust that God gives us a righteous sense of justice–especially if it is a selfless sense of justice–one that is concerned with others. Look at our widow. What does she do to obtain justice? She is persistent. She is stubborn. Perhaps we should call her attitude a kind of “holy stubbornness.” She doesn’t give up – she doesn’t lose heart. She keeps knocking at the judge’s door.
Now, I believe I don’t have to explain “stubbornness.” Some of us had it sprinkled on us in our cradles! We can prettify it, call it by another name, whatever we want: high principles, perseverance, tenacity, determination or just plain pigheadedness. Yes, we seem to be naturally endowed with the “great gift of stubbornness” and the only thing God has to help us with is to learn how to be stubborn for the right causes — God’s justice. In that case we may talk about a “holy stubbornness.” That happens when we start not only to pray our prayers, but when we start to live our prayers. In other words, we put our actions where our words are. Victims of poverty, injustice or violence don’t want to hear about God’s commandments, about moral values, about self-denial, or even about justice.
Luke is right: it is easy to lose heart and go with the flow rather than go against the current. It takes more than a petition at Mass to make our prayers effective. Think of all the corporate commitment action opportunities we are offered. When we support our petitions with a donation to Christmas for the residents at Heritage, attend the Sunrise Prayer Vigil, write letters asking for legislative action on behalf of the poor, make a donation to the Soup Supper or volunteer at Daystar.
You may ask, or be asked: “can prayer move God’s arm?” Jesus turns this question back on us today and concludes his parable with the question: “Will the Son of man find faith when he returns?” In other words he is asking: “Can prayer move your own arm? Are you willing to put your actions where your words are?” God always has relied on his children–people like you and me–to usher in His Kingdom. God will give us strength, God will empower us, but we still need to stubbornly live out our prayers for justice. The first reading reminds us we don’t have to be alone in our entreaties. One of the beauties of living in community or being part of a faith community is that, like Moses’ (in tomorrow’s first reading) – we have friends who “hold our hands until sunset” – we have the prayer support of many others. Are our prayers effective? The answer lies squarely with us: “it depends on how effective we help make them.”
First Reading 2 Kings 5:14-17 Second Reading 2 Timothy 2:8-13
Gospel Luke 17:11-19
This Gospel has much to say about gratitude and salvation. All 10 of the lepers were given the gift of healing, but only one found salvation because he recognized the gifts he had been given and knew to whom he owed thanks.
At the outset of this story we know that these ten men are stuck – Stuck in a “no-man’s” land of being socially, religiously, and physically unclean having to distance themselves from but all other lepers. By the end of the story, all ten were made well. But one has something more. He has seen Jesus, recognized his blessing and rejoiced. Because he saw what had happened, this man is not just healed, but is made whole, restored, drawn back into relationship with God, and his family, friends and neighbors. In all these ways he has won salvation.
Recently I heard a true story of gratitude that wrought salvation. The lady who told the story works downtown in a large city. Every morning, she encountered a middle‑aged woman in a shabby coat soliciting spare change from passers-by. She greeted everyone with a smile and a pleasant “Good morning.” The lady who told the story almost always gave her something. After almost a year of this routine, however, the woman in the shabby coat disappeared. My friend wondered what had happened to her. .
Then, one beautiful morning, she was in her place in front of the church, still wearing the same, shabby coat. As folks reached into their purses or pockets for their usual donation, the woman stopped each of them. “Thank you for helping me all those days,” she said. “You won’t see me again because I’ve found a job.” With that, she reached into a bag and handed each one a wrapped package. She had been standing at her old spot waiting, not for a handout, but for the people she recognized so that she could give each of them a doughnut. She recognized those who had given to her in her time of need. This is gratitude!
In our account today ten men encounter Jesus and called out (the scripture say “loudly” or yelled) “We want to be well!” You may know that leprosy also attacks the vocal chords so that these men probably could only make a raspy sound. But that didn’t stop them from raising their voices and crying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” The gracious Lord Jesus will never turn a deaf ear to a cry like that!
Jesus appears to do nothing, but quietly directs the men: “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” Now, you have to understand that the local priest, besides leading worship services was also something of a health official – to test and certify a complete removal of the dread disease and then to announce that the person was healed.
As these men took heed of Jesus’ words and set out in search of the priest, one may have noticed his hand, once eaten away by the disease now tingled with life. Or maybe he dropped his crutch when we saw his leg was back, healthy, whole and complete. Their skin was beginning to clear and regain natural color. One looked at the other, another looked at the rest, and the screaming started. The smiles broke into cheering, and a sweet madness. They raced off in the distance, hardly believing that the nightmare was finally over.
But in order for the miracle to happen, the men had to start a journey in faith before their circumstances had begun to change even one tiny bit. We are not told whether the ten lepers had a debate about whether or not to go. I can well imagine one of them arguing, “We’ll look like fools if we show up before the priest in our present condition!” Another countered, “Yes, but we’ve got nothing to lose; this is our only hope.” “But it hurts to walk on these leprous feet!” “I know, but if we do what He says, maybe we’ll be healed.” “But this isn’t the way He healed the other lepers. Why doesn’t He heal us in the same way?” “I don’t know, but we must obey.”
Maybe they didn’t have any such debate, since the text doesn’t record any, but at any rate, it says, “as they were going, they were cleansed.” It must have been a marvelous experience!
One of the men came back to Jesus. The gospel does not make it clear whether he had seen the priest and been declared clean. The evangelist tells us he praised God. He was thankful. He was public about it. He was loud – he wasn’t shy at all.
Why was he so loud? This guy had been forced to yell for as long as he’d had leprosy. Might have been years? He’d probably yelled so long, he didn’t know how to come to the Lord quietly, or even in a normal voice. When he came back and fell at the feet of Jesus, he was just louder than the normal person, and he was praising God.
He had reversed his steps, put his family on hold, put the priest on hold, and came back to the one who was the Cause of his celebration. His response, his thankfulness led to action.
Jesus asked: “Where are the other nine?” They had got what they wanted from God in terms of healed bodies. But, according to the story, they never returned to Jesus to receive salvation. They received the temporal benefit of healed bodies, but it is only to the one thankful leper who returned that Jesus proclaimed, “Your faith has saved you.” In the same way, it is possible to receive special blessings from God in answer to prayer, and yet to fall short of the best blessing of all. Thus when we realize that God has blessed us with some temporal blessing, we must not become satisfied with that and stop before we’ve thanked the Source of all blessings.
A story is told of a man who was lost in the woods. Later, he told how frightened he was and how he had even finally knelt and prayed. Someone said, “Well, obviously God answered your prayer?” “Oh, no,” the man replied. “Before God had a chance, a guide came along and showed me the way.”
27th Sunday (October 2)
First Reading Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4 Second Reading 2 Timothy 1:6-8,13-14
Gospel Luke 17:5-10
In this Gospel the disciples ask Jesus for an increase of faith. The faith that is being asked for is not to have a better knowledge of our catechism. What is being asked for is a much deeper and stronger trust and confidence that our God is near us – the firm conviction that God will always take care of his own.
Our participation in God’s plans is God’s grace to us—nothing more, nothing less. Even when God works wonders through us, with our mustard seed-sized faith, we must not seek praise. When we are graced enough to cooperate with God, the work we do is nothing more than our obligation as faithful stewards of what God has given us. And yet, our faith enables us to believe that what we have offered in service to God, as his servants, can be made to produce (like that mulberry tree in the midst of the sea) a hundredfold.
Our relationship with God is not about a bargaining agreement; a bartering or a buying and selling contract, about giving to God and getting in return. No, our relationship with God is one of total and unconditional love. The joy and satisfaction is not in what we can do to squeeze favors from God but in what we can give and share of ourselves.
The reason for this, of course, is that no matter what we do we are in God’s debt. The very energies with which we serve God are pure divine gift to us. We are “merely servants.” It’s not a 50/50 deal with God. We can never do more than “our duty.” However much we give to God it is a small repayment for all that has already been showered on us.
We’ve heard many everyday heroes say something of this nature, haven’t we? When they are awarded medals or accolades for a so-called heroic act, many say “I didn’t do anything special. I just did what anyone in the same circumstance would do.” But, would they? Would we – jump into murky waters of an icy cold river, onto subway tracks in the path of an oncoming train, risk being attack by a vicious animal, rush into a burning building? Would we respond to the need of the moment, let the Spirit, whom we sometimes call “adrenaline” kick in and come to the rescue? Or, if we had the opportunity would we consistently perform less noticeable actions like we’ve seen lately in the news: leaving a highly paid chef’s position to serve gourmet meals in a soup kitchen, insuring that 2000 poor families get Christmas gifts, spend our weekend to provide free health and dental care to help make people smile and laugh. We can hope that would not hesitate, and pray our faith would sustain us to respond: “we have done what we were obliged to do.”
Remember the story that goes: There were four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important task to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done. Which one are you?
Jesus’ story today indicates that lack of faith is not really the issue when we fail to respond to the needs of others. Faith is not measured by its quantity, but simply by its presence. A mustard seed sized faith will accomplish impossible things. The real need, Jesus says is for more obedience and humility. We should view ourselves as God’s slaves who owe Him simple and unquestioning obedience. And, when we have done what He requires, we should not get puffed up with pride in our great obedience, but should simply say, “We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.” As Benedict says in his chapter on obedience: If you notice something good in yourself, give credit to God, not to yourself.” Keep before you Benedict’s admonishment: “Do not aspire to be called holy before you really are, but first be holy that you may more truly be called so.”
It reassuring to know we can rely on God to uphold his promises. Recall the words of Psalm 89 that we prayed earlier this week: “God promises: I will never take back my love; my faithfulness will not fail. I will never break my covenant or go back on my promise.” Or take as your mantra this week the words of Jeremiah the prophet: “This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. The Lord’s loving kindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is God’s faithfulness.” And perhaps spend some time contemplating whether, when there is a task to be done, you are a Somebody, an Anybody, a Nobody or one among Everybody….
