32nd Sunday
in Ordinary Time
Cycle B
November 8, 2015 4:00
and 6:00pm and 8:00am
Saint Margaret Parish, Bel Air
The Readings and Pope
Francis
Today’s
Scripture passages got me thinking about Pope Francis. They call to my mind some of the themes he
has been voicing in the past two and a half years.
About Bishops and
Priests
The
first thing that jumps out to me in the gospel is Jesus putting down the
scribes.
The
scribes were the religious lawyers and theologians. They wore distinctive robes as a sign of
their status and people stood up when they entered a room.
They
were given seats of honor in the synagogue and other places. But here, Jesus chides them for being too
self-serving.
Well, Pope
Francis on a number of occasions has addressed bishops and us priests. He has cautioned us not to look upon our
vocation as a career or in a self-serving way.
Francis
doesn’t want us to be driven by goals of getting titles like Monsignor and
things like that. Instead, he calls us
priests to a fuller and fuller personal relationship with Jesus.
And Francis
also has a wonderful way of expressing our role with the people whom we serve. He says that sometimes we are to be before
the people we serve, pointing out the way and keeping the vision alive.
Then
again, sometimes we are just to be with the people in an unassuming way. And then again, sometimes we are to walk
after them, letting them lead and making sure that no one gets left
behind.
For me,
that is a wonderful image for my role as a priest and a pastor.
About the Poor
In
another direction, today’s first reading lifts up a poor widowed woman.
She
trusts in God and shares the last of her food with the prophet Elijah. Then, Jesus in the gospel lifts up a poor
widow who gives virtually her last pennies to the upkeep of the temple.
In a
similar way, Pope Francis repeatedly calls our attention to the world’s poor. He, as I guess we all know, was very
committed to the poor in Argentina.
I think
the current statistic is that 3 of the 7 billion people in the world live on
$2.50 a day or less. 1 billion live on
just $1.25 a day or less.
2.5
billion people lack adequate sanitation and 1.1 billion people lack basic
water. Right here in Harford County,
this winter there will be 270 homeless persons each night.
Pope
Francis says that when we are healthy and comfortable, it is easy to forget the
sufferings and extreme need of others. So
he is trying to awaken especially the developed world to sensitivity to the
poor.
Francis
sees this as a major moral issue. He is
trying to move us to work on personal, national and international levels to
address this.
What Can We Do?
I suppose the question is: practically speaking, what can you and I do? I have a couple of ideas that are not new but
maybe they are helpful reminders.
On a local level, maybe we can bring some groceries with us to Mass – a
box of cereal or a can of tuna fish or a jar of peanut butter. Many of you already do this and all of this
food is given to the Harford Food Bank.
Or maybe we could bake a casserole for Our Daily Bread in Baltimore or
volunteer some time at the Homeless Shelter here in the county. These could be good, local ways of caring for
the poor.
On another level, maybe we could consume less. Pope Francis in his recent encyclical on the
environment expresses great concern about the over-consumption of the earth’s
resources.
He talks about how this ends up hurting those already living in
poverty. So maybe we resolve to be careful
not to waste food and water.
Maybe we use more energy-efficient light bulbs and look for more energy-efficient
products across the board. These are
some fairly doable, concrete ways we can respond to today’s readings and to
Pope Francis’ exhortations.
He calls us at least to reflect and pray and look seriously at these
issues and our responses.
