Ephesians 4:7-16 / Luke 13:1-9
Paul talks about Christ: Through him, the body is built up in love.
The first frame of a Peanuts cartoon shows Charlie Brown staring at a tool box, saying to himself, “I can’t do it! I can’t do it!” The second frame shows Lucy entering and saying to Charlie, “What’s wrong, Charlie? You seem sad.” The last frame shows Charlie answering Lucy: “I am sad! I want to build a workbench, but I don’t have a workbench to build it on.” The point of that cartoon, when applied to Jesus and his mission, is clear. Jesus is our “workbench.” Before he entered the world, we had no workbench to build the workbench we would need to rebuild the world. Jesus became that workbench.
Thanks to Jesus and his incarnation, we
now have what we need to rebuild our world.
****
What are we, personally, doing to help
rebuild the world into the kingdom of God? “All of us have a message to
deliver; all of us have a song to sing.” John Powell
****
OCTOBER 22: POPE SAINT JOHN PAUL II
Saint John Paul II is perhaps one of the most well-known
pontiffs in recent history, and is most remembered for his charismatic nature,
his love of youth and his world travels, along with his role in the fall of
communism in Europe during his 27-year papacy.
The Nazi occupation forces closed the university in 1939 and
young Karol had to work in a quarry (1940-1944) and then in the Solvay chemical
factory to earn his living and to avoid being deported to Germany.
In 1942, aware of his call to the priesthood, he began
courses in the clandestine seminary of Krakow, run by Cardinal Adam Stefan
Sapieha, archbishop of Krakow. At the same time, Karol Wojtyla was one of the
pioneers of the “Rhapsodic Theatre,” also clandestine.
The Cardinals elected him Pope at the Conclave of 16 October
1978, and he took the name of John Paul II. On 22 October, the Lord’s Day, he
solemnly inaugurated his Petrine ministry as the 263rd successor to the
Apostle. His pontificate, one of the longest in the history of the Church,
lasted nearly 27 years.
Driven by his pastoral solicitude for all Churches and by a
sense of openness and charity to the entire human race, John Paul II exercised
the Petrine ministry with a tireless missionary spirit, dedicating it all his
energy. He made 104 pastoral visits outside Italy and 146 within Italy. As
bishop of Rome he visited 317 of the city’s 333 parishes.
He had more meetings than any of his predecessors with the
People of God and the leaders of Nations. More than 17,600,000 pilgrims
participated in the General Audiences held on Wednesdays (more than 1160), not
counting other special audiences and religious ceremonies [more than 8 million
pilgrims during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 alone], and the millions of
faithful he met during pastoral visits in Italy and throughout the world. We
must also remember the numerous government personalities he encountered during
38 official visits, 738 audiences and meetings held with Heads of State, and
246 audiences and meetings with Prime Ministers.
His love for young people brought him to establish the World
Youth Days. The 19 WYDs celebrated during his pontificate brought together
millions of young people from all over the world. At the same time his care for
the family was expressed in the World Meetings of Families, which he initiated
in 1994.
John Paul II successfully encouraged dialogue with the Jews
and with the representatives of other religions, whom he several times invited
to prayer meetings for peace, especially in Assisi.
Under his guidance the Church prepared herself for the third
millennium and celebrated the Great Jubilee of the year 2000 in accordance with
the instructions given in the Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio adveniente. The
Church then faced the new epoch, receiving his instructions in the Apostolic
Letter Novo Millennio ineunte, in which he indicated to the faithful their
future path.
With the Year of the Redemption, the Marian Year and the
Year of the Eucharist, he promoted the spiritual renewal of the Church.
He gave an extraordinary impetus to Canonizations and
Beatifications, focusing on countless examples of holiness as an incentive for
the people of our time. He celebrated 147 beatification ceremonies during which
he proclaimed 1,338 Blesseds; and 51 canonizations for a total of 482 saints.
He made Thérèse of the Child Jesus a Doctor of the Church.
He considerably expanded the College of Cardinals, creating
231 Cardinals (plus one in pectore) in 9 consistories. He also called six full
meetings of the College of Cardinals.
His most important Documents include 14 Encyclicals, 15
Apostolic Exhortations, 11 Apostolic Constitutions, 45 Apostolic Letters.
He promulgated the Catechism of the Catholic Church in the
light of Tradition as authoritatively interpreted by the Second Vatican
Council. He also reformed the Eastern and Western Codes of Canon Law, created
new Institutions and reorganized the Roman Curia.
On April 27, 2014 he was canonized by Pope Francis during a ceremony in St. Peter’s Square.
***
As we look at our world, we may notice a certain disparity. There are
the first world countries, i.e. the developed countries, and then there are the
developing countries, and then there are the third world countries. Some people
have come up with this weird idea that God had blessed the first world
countries and left out the underdeveloped countries. Maybe that idea is
implicitly connected to the age-old thinking that misfortune has a certain
connection with sin. It is because of this sin that a person or a nation
forfeits God's blessings.
In today's gospel passage, Jesus out-rightly rejects this sort of thinking. Yet
Jesus went on to say that if His listeners do not repent, then they too will
perish. In other words, a person or a nation that rebels against God is on the
road to disaster. Even for our nation, we may have come this far because of a
strong pragmatic direction and determination.
Yet we also cannot deny that God has blessed our nation with progress and
stability. Hence we have to always look back at the spiritual values of faith
and morality. For us Catholics, the urgency is even greater.
As the 1st reading puts it, each one of us has been given his own share of
grace, given as Christ allotted it. We should not be tossed one way or another
and carried along by every wind of false teaching or deceit. Rather we should
live by the truth and in love so that we shall grow in all ways into Christ. May
Christ be our only way and our only goal.
Let us pray: Lord our God, it is heartening for us to hear that whether we are known and influential in this world or not, whether our talents are many or few, we are all important to you and you need us to build up the body of your Son. Thank you for this trust and make us capable of building unity and community through the graces and gifts with which you enrich us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
