30th Week, Saturday, Nov 4
Roman 11:1-2, 11-12, 25-29 / Luke 14:1, 7-11
Old baseball fans remember Jimmy Piersall. He was a
sensational young ballplayer who came up with the Boston Red Sox in 1952. Fans
also remember his book Fear Strikes Out, the bittersweet story of his
life. In his rookie year in the majors, Jimmy suffered a severe nervous
breakdown. He had to be committed to a mental hospital. During this trying
time, his wife, Mary, was constantly at his side, loving him, encouraging him,
helping him. Commenting on Mary's touching loyalty, Albert Cylwicki says: “Mary's
fidelity to Jim is a reflection of God's fidelity toward us. St. Paul's letter
to the Romans refers to this fidelity when he writes: “The gifts and the call
of God are irrevocable.'”
***
How faithful and loyal are we to loved ones when tough times
come? “'It is possible to give without loving, but it is impossible to love
without giving." Richard Brounstein
***
If a trusted friend proves disloyal, we feel badly hurt and
find it almost impossible to remain faithful. Not so with God. He remains
faithful to Israel, of which all but a small rest abandoned him. Yet, the Jews
keep a role in God’s plans by facilitating, beyond the possible exclusiveness
of one people, the entrance of pagan nations.
***
Usually, when we talk of a dilemma, we are probably talking about a problem offering two possibilities, neither of which is practically acceptable. In other words, in our minds, it is the worst-case scenario with two choices. The imagery would be like that of a choice of a crash landing on a rock or on a hard ground. In the dilemmas of life, when life seems like a mess of rotten scrambled eggs, what come to the minds of people would be to press the self-destruct button and end it all.
In the 1st reading, St. Paul opened a discussion about God's chosen people: Has God rejected His people? Or have the Jews fallen forever or have they just stumbled? Trying to come to a conclusion would leave the discussion in a dilemma, but as St. Paul said, "There is a hidden reason for all this" And this hidden reason is to make us realize that the truth of life can only be known through humility.
And from the parable that Jesus told in the gospel, we know
this truth about life. When we want to exalt ourselves, we end up in the
dilemma of the worst-case scenario - either embarrassment or humiliation. But
when we humble ourselves, we will be in the best-case scenario. So, to be
humble or want to be exalted is our choice, but we will have to face the
dilemma of our choice.
***
The Pharisees are known for their swollen ego, but Jesus asks them to be humble. To be humble means to empty oneself of the problem of ‘I’ — that is, ego. If we are humble, we will be asked to ‘move up higher’ — or nearer to God. Humility is a ladder that helps one climb closer to divinity. But if we are not humble, if we do not accept our rightful place in the world, God will show us our place, like the guest at the banquet. Humility is facing the truth: acknowledging who I am, a human person with my limitations. The message is: Be humble or else you will tumble.
***
Our Lord invites us to his table. He knows that we are
people with faults, people who have hurt him and others, by the wrong we done
and the good we have failed to do. Knowing who we are, he still loves us and
invites us as his friends to join him at his table. Let us humbly take part in
his meal and ask the Lord to make us more open to the humble, to people who
have erred, and to the poor.
***
Prayer
Our Father, who lift up the lowly, your Son Jesus came into
our world as the servant of all and he cherished the helpless. With him, make
us respect and appreciate the weak, the defenseless and the humble, and accept
to be numbered among them. Dispose us to help them and to seek their help, for
you have poured out your mercy on us too, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen
***
Saint Charles Borromeo, 1538-1584
Feast Day November 4
Charles Borromeo was born in northern Italy in 1538 to an
established and wealthy family. Trained in civil and canon law in Pavia, he was
called to Rome as a young man by his uncle, Pope Pius IV, to be secretary of
state at the Vatican. “Always clear and precise in his views, firm in his
demeanor, and constant in the execution of his projects,” as one biographer has
remarked, he played an important role in convincing Pius to reconvene the
Council of Trent, which sought to address corruption in a sixteenth-century
church beleaguered by Protestantism. Under the auspices of that council,
beginning in 1563 Borromeo supervised the writing of an accurate catechism,
rewrote liturgical texts and music, and began enforcing clerical reform in
Rome. Pope Pius IV named Borromeo archbishop of Milan but kept him in Rome
performing a multitude of official functions.
When Borromeo arrived in Milan, he faced a daunting task.
Milan was the largest archdiocese in Italy at the time, with more than 3,000
clergy and 800 thousand people. Both its clergy and laity had drifted from
church teaching. The selling of indulgences and ecclesiastical positions was
prevalent; monasteries were “full of disorder”; many religious were “lazy,
ignorant, and debauched,” and some did not even understand how to properly
administer the sacraments. The city had seen no resident bishop for 80 years.
Borromeo immediately called a synod of his bishops to inform them of the new
decrees. Setting an example of personal frugality and order, Borromeo reduced
his household staff, forbade his retainers to accept any presents, and sold
some of his property to help feed the poor. He began preaching in churches and
monasteries, combining “exhortation with intimidation.” He also addressed the
backsliding of laypeople, curtailing Sunday entertainments and requiring that
all teachers profess the faith. Always interested in religious education,
Borromeo established the Confraternities of Christian Doctrine to teach
religion to children, and the organization grew to include 740 schools, three
thousand catechists, and forty thousand students in Sunday schools.
Borromeo’s rigor predictably made him enemies. Before
Borromeo went to Milan, while he was overseeing reform in Rome, a nobleman
remarked that the latter city was no longer a place to enjoy oneself or to make
a fortune. “Carlo Borromeo has undertaken to remake the city from top to
bottom,” he said, predicting dryly that the reformer’s enthusiasm “would lead
him to correct the rest of the world once he has finished with Rome.” Once
Borromeo arrived in his own diocese, he was forced to excommunicate and
imprison some Milanese nobles, including some civil authorities, for defying
his new policies. Some Milanese complained to the pope about Borromeo’s
allegedly excessive rigor, but the archbishop was vindicated. When he ordered
the reform of a wealthy and corrupt religious order, the Humiliati, foes
attempted to assassinate him.
Borromeo also displayed a gentler aspect, however, and many
of his people loved him. During a plague in 1576, he stayed in the city and
cared for the sick, ordering that decorative church hangings be tailored into
clothing for the destitute. During a famine he incurred great debts to feed
more than 60,000 people. In more ordinary times, he liked to wander the city
praying with the people. He established hospitals, colleges, orphanages, and
other charitable institutions.
An energetic reformer who took “always the most austere and
stringent interpretation” of the dictates of the Council of Trent, Charles
Borromeo was instrumental in helping reinvigorate the church during the
Counter-Reformation. His work, it is said, “gave new confidence to a shaken
church.” He died in 1584, at age forty-six, tired from his labors. He was
canonized in 1610 and is the patron saint of catechists.
