Luke 21:5-19 (33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 13, 2016)

 Gospel:

While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, “All that you see here— the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.” 

Then they asked him, “Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?” He answered, “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ Do not follow them! When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end.” 

Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky. 

“Before all this happens, however, they will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”

Gospel Trivia:

Jesus is referring to the Jewish temple, which is the center of the Jewish faith. It is like the Vatican for us. If Vatican City were, for example, to be destroyed by ISIS, our faith would be shaken to its core, and we would certainly feel that the end of the world would be near. 

This is what Jesus is guarding against -- that major catastrophes or conflicts should not be interpreted as signs of the end.  While the Kingdom of God is at hand (already here with the coming of Jesus), it is not yet complete.  Its completion is not immediate or instant, but a process of building it, with the building to be carried out by his disciples. 

In the process, there will be challenges and persecutions, and Jesus exhorts all to persevere.  Do not be I've taken by tragedies, the building of the kingdom will not be subverted. 

This is in preparation for next Sunday's gospel, the feast of Christ the King of the universe and of all time. 

Reference: A Kingdom for All, pp. 378-380. 

Luke 18:9–14 - The Pharisee and the Tax Collector (30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct. 23, 2016)

Gospel:

Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Gospel Trivia:

It should be noted that the Pharisee and tax collector described in the passage are extremes. Not all Pharisees were cocky and self-righteous, many of them followed the requirements of the Law and were good examples to others. 

Also, not all tax collectors were repentant. Many of them were extortionists, collecting money in behalf of the Roman empire and making fat commissions. So we should bear in mind that the ones described in the passage are not prototypes, but tendencies that were apparent among these groups at that time. 

We should note the following gospel trivia:

- The setting in the story is a public worship service in the temple. In the parable, this is likely the atonement ritual.  Many attend these services. 

- The Pharisees believe that one must strictly follow all the requirements of the Law in order to be righteous before God. The tax collector, on the other hand, violated several of these laws, and many of them extorted from their fellow Jews.  They were despised.  

- Given his situation, there was no way the tax collector could ever become righteous because the Law required returning the money that he has stolen (when he over-collected taxes), and there was no way he could possibly find all the people that he stole from. He was doomed. 

-  Note that the tax collector “stood off at a distance” and the Pharisee was likely away from the rest of the crowd as well because he was grateful he was not like “the rest of humanity.” 

This distance between the two characters provides a significant nuance in the story. They were very much apart from the crowd and from each other, and yet the Pharisee looked around and noticed the tax collector; enough for the former to compare himself with the latter. The Pharisee saw the tax collector and used him to further prop up himself. 

The message of this passage is more than just humility versus self-righteousness. Jesus also deplores the self-righteousness based on comparing one’s self with others. 


While we are generally conscious of our sinfulness before God, a genuine humble attitude requires we stand alone before God, and never beside someone else. When we say, “I know am not perfect, but at least I am not like him who has another woman,” or “I know I spend a lot on myself and I should think of others, but I don’t have as much jewelry as she does," are we not being like a Pharisee?

Reference:

- Nil Guillemette, SJ, Parables for Today (Makati: St. Paul Publications, 1987), p. 286-292.

Luke 18:1-8 The Unjust Judge (29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct. 16, 2016)

Gospel:

Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’ 

For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought, ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.’” 

The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Gospel:

This gospel is not simply about being persistent in prayer.  Take note of the following:

- some parables of Jesus were addressed to the Pharisees or the general crowd; this one is addressed to the disciples, so it teaches the disciples something.

- Jesus told his disciples to "pray always without becoming weary"; it does not mean to pray throughout the day, but to pray in ALL circumstances, in good times and bad, especially in difficult times.

- this gospel was particularly meant for the disciples during their times of trials and difficulties, when their prayers were apparently not being answered.

- this is why this parable is told from the point of view of the judge -- his thoughts and motivations; he neither "feared God nor respected any human being", which is the worst description you can call a person.

- this despicable judge is the extreme contrast to God's love and mercy; yet he answered the widow's plea.

This gospel is not about the persistent widow, but the faithfulness of God. There will be times when God is apparently not answering our prayers; but in confident faith, we pray anyway.

Reference:
- Nil Guillemette, SJ, Parables for Today (Makati: St. Paul Publications, 1987), p. 275-278.

Luke 17:11-19 (28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct. 9, 2016)

Gospel:

As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”

Gospel Trivia:

Note that Jesus did not cure the ten lepers on the spot and instead ordered them to go and show themselves to the priests. A leper does NOT go to the priests to be healed.  According to Jewish law, a leper who has been cured should go to a priest  who will attest the cure. (Note that the Samaritan is a non-Jew and therefore NOT part of the "chosen people.")

By ordering the lepers to comply with that law as if they had already been healed, Jesus required of them an act of obedience in faith. 

The ten proceeded to go as told and were all healed.  Of the ten, only one of them, a Samaritan, when he saw that he was cured, came back running to Jesus and praising God. The Samaritan leper knew that his cure came from God and was totally grateful.

In contrast, the other nine were Jews, who thought that their cure was deserved because of they are God's special chosen ones.

This gospel is more than about gratefulness.  It takes faith to recognize God’s action, to receive it, and render it back to Him.  The Samaritan's faith reflected his attitude that his cure is pure grace; that he is totally undeserving yet was cured out of God's love.

The nine lepers received healing thinking that it was due to them.


God's love is not something we earn and deserve, but even though we are undeserving, God still loves us.  This is the faith Jesus is talking about.

Reference: Nil Guillemette, SJ, A Kingdom for All (Manila: St. Paul Publications, 1988), p. 366-268.

Luke 17:5-10 (27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, October 2, 2016)

Gospel:

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. 

“Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’? Would he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished’? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’”

Gospel Trivia:

Jesus describes true faith not in terms of quantity (which is what the apostles had in mind), but in terms of quality.  If one had the right kind of faith, then one can accomplish apparently impossible actions.  

Jesus gave the example of a servant who carried out the orders given by his master.  Upon completion of his task, the servant is expected to remain available for the next one.  The servant does not claim any special reward or gratitude since he is only doing what is expected of him.  

As a disciple, the way to increase faith is not to ask for rewards for one's service, but to see the service as already the reward.  If one has the kind of faith that Jesus is talking about, then no task would be impossible.

The gospel teaches two things:  

- Our service is not a favor; God does not owe us because we served.  

- Secondly, our faith enables us to carry out the orders received from God, and our humility recognizes that God is the power behind it all.  When we serve, it is NOT us using the power of God, but the power of God using us.

By the way, if you’re wondering just how small a mustard seed is, and how big a mustard tree is, then see the pictures below.  Also, the roots of the mustard tree is so great that the tree can resist 600 years of any weather!


Reference: A Kingdom For All by Nil Guillemette, SJ and Exploring God’s Word

Luke 16:19–31 (26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sept. 25, 2016)

Gospel:

Jesus said to the Pharisees:

“There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. 

When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’ 

Abraham replied, ‘My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.’ He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Gospel Trivia:

This parable is found only in the gospel of Luke, consistent with his pro-poor stance and critical posture against the rich.

Note the following:

- First, this is the only parable where Jesus puts the name of a character in the parable: Lazarus.  Do we know the name of the prodigal son? Or the Good Samaritan? Or of the dishonest steward? Or of the persistent neighbor? This must mean that this parable is very important for Jesus, and for Luke the gospel writer. It also suggests that the rich man knew Lazarus personally. He did mention Lazarus’ name in his plea after his death: "Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip his finger in water so as to cool off my tongue."   But the rich man ignored him anyway. 

- Second, observe the phrase “he dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day.” Each day. Every day, wearing fine clothes and dining sumptuously. EVERY DAY. ARAW-ARAW.  We all treat ourselves to fine dining once in a while. But this rich man could afford to do so every day. 

- Third, the parable tells that “Lazarus, would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table,” which means that he did not get anything, not even the scraps. This rich man who dined sumptuously everyday did not even give table scraps to Lazarus.

Just as the rich man was condemned for not even giving table scrap to Lazarus, then conversely, had he given even scraps, then he could have been saved. 

It does not take much, it only takes scraps for us to show concern.

Reference: Nil Guillemette, SJ.  Parables for Today, pp. 265-274.

Luke 16:1-13 (25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 18, 2016)

Gospel:

Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’ The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’ He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ Then to another the steward said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred kors of wheat.’ The steward said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’ And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. 

“For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.” 

Gospel Trivia:

This is the most difficult parable to interpret in the New Testament; it is sometimes referred to as the embarrassment of preachers.  How can the master praise the steward after he caught him squandering his property, and then catching him again adjusting the accounts without the master's authorization?

It is important therefore to understand the culture at that time to appreciate the parable.  Let’s consider the following:

-  first, the position of steward is a trusted position.  He becomes the manager of the master’s estate, which can be very large, so there must have been a long period of friendship and trust that precedes any appointment of a steward.

-  this long relationship probably explains why, firstly, the steward did not anymore bother to deny or appeal the decision of the master to dismiss him (which is unlikely in the culture); and secondly, why the master did not sue him which could have likely landed him in jail.  The relationship was still worth something, and the steward therefore felt that his master was generous to him to the very end, despite of his fault.

-  secondly, it would be helpful if we knew exactly what is the scheme that the steward try to pull off in order to be ingratiated to the tenants later on?  Did he overprice the rental initially and simply brought it back to the original amount?  This is unlikely since the rent was generally known to everyone and it would be easy to discover if one has been overcharged, and tenants could even go straight to the master to appeal the rates.  It seems that the what the steward planned to do was to simply reduce the amount of rent that he would turn over to the master.  This he can do by citing many reasons such as bad weather, crop disease, drought, and others.  

-   Thus, the steward already reduced the anticipated rental payment, and therefore perceived as an act of generosity by the steward; and, obviously, of the master as well.  

-  This act of the steward therefore served two purposes: it ingratiated him to the tenants (which he would now need that he is fired), and it also projected the master as generous and understanding.

The master compliments the steward not only for being sly and scheming, but also in recognizing his generosity and projecting such generosity to the tenants.

This interpretation make sense when we notice that while this parable was being told to the disciples, it also says that the Pharisees were part of the audience and could hear what he was saying.

The Pharisees firmly believed that obeying the law was the way to righteousness.  They looked at God as a judge who kept a record of wrongs.  Jesus had another message: God is Father!  A father is not legalistic, but merciful and generous, to the extent of complimenting a sinner who recognizes such characteristics of our Father.  

When we look at God as an accountant who keeps a record of our rights and wrongs, then we overlook his mercy and generosity.  God is not fair.  God is love.

Reference:

Nil Guillemette, SJ, Parables for Today (Makati: St. Paul Publications, 1987), pp. 252-257.