28th Week: Oct 11-16:
Oct 11 Monday (St. John XXIII, Pope)
The context: Since there had been many false
prophets and false messiahs in the past, and since their pride and prejudice
did not permit them to see the Messiah in a
carpenter-from-Nazareth-turned-wandering-preacher, the Jewish religious leaders
demanded that Jesus should show some “Messianic” signs and miracles taken from
their list. They would not accept that Jesus’ numerous miraculous healings were
the Messianic signs foretold by the prophets.
Jesus’ negative response: Calling them an apostate
generation who refused to believe in their own prophets and denied the hand of
God in the miracles He worked, Jesus warned these religious leaders that they
would be condemned on the Day of Judgment by the people of Nineveh and by the
Queen of Sheba from the South. This is one of the instances in which Jesus held
up Gentiles as models of Faith and goodness (other examples: the Canaanite
woman in Matthew 15, the centurion in Luke 7, the Good Samaritan story in Luke
10; etc.). The pagan Ninevites heard the voice of the Lord God in the prophet
Jonah, repented, and were spared. The Queen of Sheba recognized God’s Wisdom in
King Solomon and traveled to Israel to receive more of it. Nevertheless, Jesus
gave the challenging religious leaders “the sign of Jonah.” It was the
undeniable Messianic sign of Jesus’ own Resurrection from the tomb on the third
day after the crucifixion, just as Jonah had spent three days in the belly of
the giant fish before finally going to Nineveh to accomplish the mission God
had originally given him.
Life messages: We need to recognize God-given signs in our lives: 1) Let us examine our conscience and see if we are able to see God’s presence in ourselves and in others, His hands behind the small and big events of our lives and His provident care in our lives. 2) Let us open our ears to hear God’s message given to us by others and by nature. 3) Let us read God’s message in the Bible and adjust our lives accordingly. 4) Let us try our best to be open to God and receptive to His Spirit through our active participation in the liturgy instead of looking for signs in weeping Madonnas, bleeding crucifixes and visionaries. Fr. Tony (https://frtonyshomilies.com/) L/21
Oct 12 Tuesday: Lk 11:37-41:
The context: In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus accuses
the Pharisees of hypocrisy. Jesus was invited by a Pharisee for a dinner at
which Jesus violated the ceremonial law by purposely omitting the ritual
washing of hands before the meals and between the courses. Pious Jews were
expected on each occasion to wash their hands by pouring two ounces of water
from finger tips to wrist and in the reverse order, and then to cleanse each
palm by rubbing the fist of the other hand. Water was stored in big stone jars
for this washing ceremony. Omitting the ceremony was considered a sin and that
is why Jesus’ host was astonished.
Jesus teaches the essence of religion: Jesus tells his host
that the essence of religion is offering to God a clean heart filled with love,
mercy, compassion and forgiveness. Mere external observance of rituals without
a cleansing of
the heart is hypocrisy, which God hates. Jesus uses the occasion to accuse the
Pharisees of harboring evil thoughts like greed, pride, bitterness, envy, and
arrogance in their hearts. Jesus concludes by suggesting that one method of
expressing real love of God and neighbor, originating from a compassionate
heart and making one pure and clean, is giving alms to the poor. Almsgiving in
the proper sense means realizing the needs of others and letting them share in
one’s own goods, especially by way of spiritual help, financial and emotional
support, consolation, fraternity, and love. St. John of the Cross explains this
passage, remarking that in the evening of our lives we will be judged on our
love expressed by works of charity.
Life messages: 1) In order to have interior
cleanliness, let us do some charitable acts which externally express our loving
relationship with God and our eagerness to do His will. Since we are offering
our hearts and lives on the altar, let us expel everything evil from our hearts
by true repentance 2) Love is what we have to give others – love with
understanding, mercy, respect for their freedom, and deep concern for their
spiritual and material welfare. Giving this gift requires that we have love in
our thoughts, words and actions always. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
Oct 13 Wednesday: Lk 11:42-46:
The context: In today’s text, taken from Luke’s
Gospel, Jesus expresses moral indignation and sorrow at the hypocrisy of the
scribes and the Pharisees who have put obstacles between the common people and
God by overburdening them with unnecessary, impractical, and seemingly limitless
interpretations of Mosaic laws. In today’s text, Jesus leveled three
accusations against these religious leaders, naming particular misbehaviors: 1)
They had misinterpreted the spirit of the Law, making the Law a heavy burden
for the God-fearing common people. Jesus gave the Law of tithing as an example.
God intended tithing for His people as an expression of their gratitude to a
providing God (Dt 14:22; Lv 27:30). The scribes instructed the people to pay
tithes on insignificant things, such as kitchen-garden plants, with great
mathematical accuracy, but they themselves neglected justice and love
of God in their private lives. 2) The second accusation was that the
scribes and the Pharisees were notorious for their status-seeking. They
demanded that the common people give them special honors because of their
expertise in Mosaic Law and faithful religious observance. As a mark of
respect, they were to be given front seats in the synagogue and public greeting
in the streets. 3) Jesus compared the scribes and Pharisees to the white-washed
tombs on the sides of the road leading to Jerusalem. In preparation for the
three major Jewish feasts, Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, the scribes and
Pharisees used to have the tombs whitewashed, so that the pilgrims would not be
ritually defiled by unknowingly stepping on one. Jesus accused the Pharisees of
moral filth, of hiding injustice and immorality inside themselves, and of
covering the corruption with pretensions of piety and religious fervor. Thus,
they contaminated others with their rotten and dangerous ideas of God’s
demands.
Life messages: 1) The essence of religion is to
love God, discovering Him in everyone. The basic principles of the Ten
Commandments are respect and reverence based on love of God and neighbor. When
we learn to reverence God, His holy Name and His holy Day and to respect our
parents, elders and all others, their lives, their goods and their good names,
we practice true religion without hypocrisy or selfish interests. True love is
sacrificial, encouraging us to help lift the burdens of others. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
Oct 14 Thursday (St. Callistus I, Pope,
Martyr)
The context: Today’s passage, taken from chapter
11 of Luke’s Gospel, gives two more accusations which Jesus made against the
Pharisees. According to Matthew, Jesus made these accusations on the third day
of what we call Holy Week, in the Jerusalem, in the Temple precincts.
1) Jesus criticized the blatant hypocrisy and false zeal of
the scribes and the Pharisees in decorating the old monuments and building new
monuments for the past prophets who had been persecuted and murdered by the
forefathers of these same Scribes and the Pharisees, while they themselves did
not obey the injunctions of these past prophets. Abel’s martyrdom is the first
recorded in the Bible (Gn 4:8). [Navarre Bible Commentary: “Zechariah was a
prophet who died by being stoned in the temple of Jerusalem around the year 800
B.C. because he accused the people of Israel of being unfaithful to God’s law
(cf. 2 Chronicles 24:20-22). The murder of Abel (Genesis 4:8) and that of
Zechariah were, respectively, the first and last murders reported in these
books which the Jews regarded as Sacred Scripture”]. Jesus remarked that
the blood guilt inherited by the ancestors of the scribes and the Pharisees
throughout the Old Testament era would spill over when the priests (most of
them scribes), and the Pharisees conspired to execute Jesus the Messiah.
2) Since the scribes (religious lawyers), were the official
interpreters of the Scriptures, they held the “office of the keys.”
Unfortunately, their interpretation of the Scriptures became so distorted and
difficult to understand that others were “shut out” of the Scriptures.
Life messages: 1) We need to be men and women of
integrity and character without any element of hypocrisy in our Christian life.
We should not make a show of holiness and religious fervor when we are not
internally holy. 2) Holiness requires humility and giving God credit for any
good He does through us. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
Oct 15 Friday: (St. Teresa of Jesus, Virgin, Doctor
of the Church)
The context: Jesus continues to condemn the hypocrisy of the Scribes and the Pharisees, comparing it to leaven or
yeast. The Jews considered yeast as something evil, corrupting the dough during
the process of fermentation. That is why the Law given through Moses prescribes
unleavened bread for offering to God. Jesus reminded the common people that the
Pharisees were hypocrites who pretended to be holy and that they would corrupt
people as the yeast corrupts the dough. The teaching and example of the scribes
and the Pharisees influenced the crowd in a disastrous way, especially when the
teachers failed to practice what they preached. Jesus also warned these
religious leaders that their sins would be brought to light at the Last
Judgment (CCC #678).
Hearing in secret and announcing in public: According to
the Navarre Bible Commentary, most Palestinian houses had a roof in
the form of a terrace. There, people would meet to chat and while away their
time in the hottest part of the day. Jesus pointed out to the apostles that in
these get-togethers, things said in private became matters of public
discussion. In the same way, despite the Pharisees’ and scribes’ efforts to
hide their vices and defects under the veil of piety, all they had hidden would
become a matter of common knowledge. A reverential fear of God: Since nothing —
not even the most insignificant thing — escapes God, no one should fear that
any suffering or persecution he experiences in following Christ will remain
unrewarded in eternity. But our fear of God should not be servile (based on
fear of punishment). It should be a filial fear (the fear of a son or daughter
who loves, and so does not want to displease, his or her father), a reverent
awe nourished by our trust in Divine Providence.
Life messages: 1) In contrast to the hypocrisy
of the Pharisees, the followers of Jesus must display transparency in their
Christian lives by practicing what they profess. 2) They should also maintain a
reverential fear of God, adjusting their actions in such a way that they may
not displease a loving heavenly Father. (Fr. Tony) (https://frtonyshomilies.com/)
L/21
Oct 16 Saturday (St. Hedwig, Religious) St.
Margaret Mary Alaquoque, Virgin)
The context: The scribes and Pharisees
attributed Jesus’ miracles of driving demons out of possessed people to the
work of the devil rather than to God. Pride in their knowledge of the Hebrew
Scriptures and prejudice against Jesus, the wandering preacher, prompted them
to attribute Jesus’ exorcisms to the devil’s power and Jesus’ collaboration
with the devil. The first part of today’s Gospel is Jesus’ reply to their false
accusation.
Unpardonable sin: The Jews did not have any idea of a Triune
God. For them, the Spirit of God was God Himself. It was this Divine Spirit Who
spoke through Moses and the prophets and Who enabled men and women to
understand the Sacred Scriptures. So, Jesus told the unbelieving Jews that they
were refusing to believe in the Spirit of God and in the Messianic prophecies
given by Him when they attributed Jesus’ miracles to the devil. Hence, theirs
was a sin of blasphemy against the Spirit of God. Since they remained
unrepentant, thus refusing God’s mercy and forgiveness, their sin against the
Holy Spirit of God was unforgivable. In the second part of today’s Gospel,
Jesus introduced the Holy Spirit as a Teacher and an Attorney Who would help
defend the disciples when they were brought to trial before the Jewish
synagogues and Roman authorities because of their faith in Jesus as God and
Savior.
Life messages: 1) Let us have the generosity and goodwill not to close our eyes to God or to shut our ears to His voice, thus refusing the chances given us by our merciful God to repent of our sins and renew our lives. 2) Let us ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen us in our fight against temptations, and let us pray for the illumination of the Holy Spirit (Fr. Tony)