The Catholic Calendar for Sunday, September 30, 2001
The Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Amos 6:1a,4-7
Psalm 146:7-10
1 Timothy 6:11-16
Luke 16:19-32
Full text: http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/index.htm
A Reflection on today's Scripture:
The theme of today's Gospel is "terminal spiritual blindness," a
condition suffered by those totally given to pursuing all this world
can offer. So focused are they on self, their tiny dominions, that
they remain untouched by anything beyond their property and
pleasures. When God gave the rich man an opportunity to redeem
himself by placing a sick, starving man at his door, he showed not
the least charity toward this unfortunate, suffering soul.
Jesus' parable extends far beyond insensitive people to include the
religious "aristocracy" of His day who mainly scorned the poor, the
uneducated and the infirm. Caught up in legalism, they inflated
their egos and flaunted their authority by following intricate,
loveless, empty laws and placing these burdens on their people.
Christ is crying out to awaken these from their hard-hearted
complacency, opening their eyes to the danger of their excluding
themselves from the very kingdom entrusted to them. Jesus
graphically shows them the devastation awaiting those who have not
made God's love paramount in their hearts. Those who fail to do this
deny their very humanity, since God made us as vessels to contain His
love, truth, goodness and justice. Apart from God, humanity becomes
the living dead.
Jesus is not threatening horrific punishment on those who, confronted
with the truth, reject Him. He is instead exercising God's loving
mercy by pointing them in the way that leads to eternal life, saving
them from themselves, their wrong, irrevocable choices.
Blessed Lord,
make the power of Your love manifest itself in us,
that we may draw others to Your eternal promise of life.
Amen.
- Marie L. Bocko, ocds
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