TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - AUGUST 29, 2010
We are grateful to the Knights of Columbus and the Parish Council and others who helped in organizing the parish and school picnic. I thank all the families who made it a point to set aside this day to relax with our faith community.
Although every society claims to uphold the right of every individual to be treated equally, in reality there are all forms of differentiation among them. In India, status differentiation is rigidly upheld with a caste system advocated by an ancient religious tradition in which one’s social status is determined by one’s ascribed and unchangeable membership to a particular group. We, living in the developed Christian nation, may fool ourselves presuming that such inhuman system does not exist here while we live in a society where people enjoy equality. Unfortunately, we have to face reality. All social groups in the world, without any exception, hold some form of hierarchy of social status among their members. Social status is an important element that gives a person a degree of self-esteem, prestige, and good standing in the social group that one belongs. It gives one a sense of belonging, as he/she is a social being. In this day and age the kind of occupation and the consequent acquisition of wealth seem to be the determining factor in acquiring higher status. A great majority of people whole-heartedly crave to achieve prominent social status in whatever social group they belong. Like everyone else in the world, we have to accept the fact that we are living in a classed society whether we believe it or not. We speak of upper class, middle class, and the poor on welfare. Today some sociologists say that we just have two classes of people – the rich and the poor.
To such a classed world God has a message: Every human is equally created in God’s image. But due to man’s pride and ambition, to be superior to God himself, he lost his dignity. However, in the fullness of time, God, in his immense goodness and mercy, sent Jesus his Son to restore that original dignity. Everyone who experiences this restored dignity is called to see that dignity in every human being, without exception. The challenge is to break down all forms of differentiation, based on class, color, ethnicity, etc.
The virtue of humility is a sign of the presence of that restored dignity. Humility is the hallmark of an authentic disciple of Christ. Humility reveals divinity. Do I feel superior to others? Does class differentiation matter to me? Am I humble enough to interact with people from poor economic and educational backgrounds? Is social status the factor that determines one’s worth? Jesus says that our Heavenly Father reveals to simple and humble people what he hides from the learned and the clever.
During his short earthly life, Jesus socialized with the lowest of the lowest and marginalized people in society. The self-centered and self-righteous elite groups in his time branded him as a friend of tax-collectors, prostitutes, and sinners. James writes, “Humble yourself before the Lord and he will exalt you.” (Jas 4:10)
Fr. Sextus Don
TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - SEPTEMBER 5, 2010
The Family is the domestic Church where is present the Church’s mission, catechesis, witness, prayer, etc. Family is the place where the Gospel is transmitted. Therefore, parents are the primary educators in the faith. Let us all make an effort to be part of the Catechetical formation of our faith community. Please, register your children/grandchildren for Sunday religious education and join the adult Catechesis.
The author of Wisdom highlights man's inability to understand God’s plans and decrees by human knowledge alone. As humans are finite beings, their knowledge is limited. If they cannot solve problems of their existence, how could they even comprehend the mysteries surrounding God! God in his goodness has revealed himself through Wisdom. Here, Wisdom is personified and identified with Jesus, the Son, and later with the Holy Spirit.
Paul asks Philemon to take back Onesimus, his runaway slave who is now a Christian convert, Paul’s adopted son and a brother in Christ to every Christian. Accept all, especially in our community, as brothers & sisters in Christ.
In the Gospel, Luke repeats again the demand of Christian discipleship which is found in 9:23-27, 57-62. In Chapter 14, Jesus presents a gratuitous invitation for a banquet and the expected whole-hearted response. Those who wish to follow Jesus must not recoil before any sacrifice required of them. Jesus demands total commitment to him. They have to renounce their attachment to possessions. This call to discipleship demands much arduous planning like the builder building a tower, or a king going for war.
Our reliance only in human knowledge lacks the depth to understand God’s plans and decrees. Therefore, the Father sends the Holy Spirit into our hearts to help us discern his will and help us walk in right paths. The working of the Holy Spirit is revealed in the human conscience. The Catechism describes conscience as “a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed. In all he says and does, man is obliged to follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right. It is by the judgment of his conscience that man perceives and recognizes the prescription of the divine law.” (CCC #1778) However, as humans are affected by original sin, they fail to seek the help of the Holy Spirit and so are inclined toward evil. Ignorance of this fact ‘gives rise to serious error in the areas of education, politics, social action, and morals.’ (CCC # 407)
It is indispensable that we constantly educate our conscience with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to make right moral decisions. “We are assisted by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, aided by the witness or advice of others and guided by the authoritative teaching of the Church.” (CCC #1785) Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will repeat to us truth that he heard from him. It is found in the gospel as understood by Catholic tradition (cf. Jn 16: 8,13).
Fr. Sextus
PASTOR'S SUNDAY REFLECTION