28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - October 13, 2024

 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time – B 

October 13, 2024    11am

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 11am 

            

A Question 

 

So, a man asks Jesus a question.

 

And as he does this, he kneels before Jesus. In that culture especially, this is a gesture of petition and reverence.

 

He addresses Jesus as “Good teacher,” and then asks his question. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

 

His question is one form of the ultimate question in everyone’s heart.  What is my ultimate goal?

 

And how do I attain it? It is another way of asking, “How do I enter the kingdom of God?” 

 

This man, as we learn in the conversation, was already obeying the commandments. But his question suggests that he is wondering about it all and senses that there might be something more.

 

Well, before answering the man’s question, Jesus asks him a question. “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.”

 

Jesus is inviting the man to think about what he has said. Does he perceive in Jesus a goodness that belongs only to God?

 

Is he sensing that Jesus is more than just another human being? Jesus gently moves the man to think about this. 

 

Jesus’ Response 

 

Then, Jesus responds to his question by quoting some of the commandments.

 

As I have already noted, the man asserts that he was observing all of them. Jesus then, very quickly, puts his finger on the source of this man’s uneasiness. 

 

He says: “There is one more thing you need to do. Sell what you have and give it to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven.”

 

Well, doesn’t this seem like a radical expectation from Jesus? I mean, he doesn’t ask others, even the apostles to do this.    

 

For example, Peter keeps his boat and probably his home in Capernaum. So why does Jesus ask this one man to sell everything and give the proceeds to the poor? 

 

Why? 

 

Jesus must have sensed that he was just too attached to his comforts and wealth.

 

He wants him to become aware that these riches can make us too self-reliant. They can lead us to forget our need of God and to become insensitive to those who are poor. 

 

The passage says Jesus looks upon this man with love – the same word used in the Scripture that says that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” So, Jesus wants this man to take one more step and be fully open to the kingdom of God.    

 

What About Us? 

 

I am led to this question: what about us? 

 

What is Jesus saying here to us? Well, I don’t think he is telling us to sell everything and give the proceeds to the poor.

 

I hope not – I feel pretty sure of that. What’s coming up for me is two words that he wants us to be praying about when it comes to our possessions and money: 1) greed and 2) prudence.

 

The Catechism of the Catholic Church names greed as one of the seven deadly or capital sins. These are called deadly because they can lead to other kinds of sin.

 

Greed is an excessive attachment to money or possessions. It can lead to self-reliance to the exclusion of God and to a lack of generosity.

 

I think Jesus wants us to be aware of this. Check our attitudes and lifestyle against the possibility of some form of greed. 

 

And the other word is prudence. The Catechism of the Catholic Church names this as one of the four cardinal virtues.

 

So, it is an important virtue and has lots of impact on our lives. Prudence is right judgment.

 

It is the ability to look at a situation and know what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. It leads to wise decisions and a healthy and holy lifestyle.

 

It is a virtue that Jesus wants us to pray for and seek. It will help us to know when we have enough and when we need to share. 

 

Conclusion

 

I will stop here. 

 

We don’t come away from this passage with black and white, clearcut rules for ourselves. But we do come away with some good guidance for spiritually mature decisions.

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B - October 6, 2024

 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time – B 

October 6, 2024

Our Lady of Grace Parish, Parkton 5pm 

            

Marriage 

 

It’s safe to say that we all want a marriage – your marriage, someone else’s marriage – we all want a marriage to work. We want it to be happy and to last – for a lifetime, forever.

 

It’s also safe to say that we all know – including me – we all know of a marriage that has not worked. It was not happy and did not last and it ended in divorce.

 

That’s the truth. It is a reality of life.

 

In the face of this, I find Jesus’ words in today’s gospel very black and white, maybe blunt, and probably difficult for those who have divorced and remarried. So, I want to reflect carefully on Jesus’ teaching here.        

 

Faithful Love 

 

Jesus’ underlying point is two words: faithful love.

 

His teaching is grounded in who God is and God’s faithful love. We believe that God is a Trinity, three persons, a mystery.

 

And we believe that God is love. That’s what Saint John tells us.

 

And so, we believe that God is faithful love – complete and unending love of each of the three persons for the others. And we believe that we are made in God’s image and likeness and are to become persons of faithful love. 

 

In a way, it’s that simple and that challenging. That’s the grounding for what Jesus is teaching about marriage in this passage – faithful love.  

 

What This Demands 

 

What does this demand of two people?

 

It demands that they make some choices, some specific choices about a number of things in a marriage.

 

For example, faithful love demands that husband and wife choose to take the first step in showing affection, and in remembering the good or endearing traits of the other.

 

It demands that marriage partners choose to be happy about the accomplishments of the other, and that they are there for the other in times of disappointment.

 

It demands that a couple choose to share both successes and failures, and that they are vulnerable to one another.

 

Faithful love demands that husband and wife choose to apologize and ask for forgiveness, and that they are forgiving and try to move on together.

 

It demands that marriage partners choose to be patient with the idiosyncrasies of one another, and that they remain aware that I also have my own stuff that can get on the nerves of the other.

 

And very important, it demands that a couple choose to keep the big picture of life in mind, and that they let bumps in the road that will be meaningless in a year just be bumps in the road.

 

These are some, I’m sure not all, but some of the specifics of what faithful love is about. I believe this is what Jesus has in mind with his teaching today.   

 

But Sometimes 

 

But, even with this teaching, and even with good intentions from two good persons, it doesn’t always work out.

 

Sometimes the marriage breaks down and ends. There is divorce and often a remarriage.

 

For the past five hundred years or so, our Church has had a process of looking at a marriage that has ended. It is a discernment about whether something was missing or preventing a person or a couple from really making the commitment to a full and lasting relationship.

 

For the last fifty years or so, the Church has grown in its understanding of all that is needed for this commitment. When something seems lacking, the Church grants what is called an annulment.

 

This means that the person or couple is freed from that bond of marriage. I know that some of us find that word “annulment” difficult.

 

It seems to say that there never was a marriage. Maybe it would be better if we would just call it a declaration of freedom.

 

That strikes me as a more accurate term. Whatever, if you or someone you know is struggling with this, I suggest you talk about it. 

 

Identify a priest whom you think would be a good listener and can take in your story. And then, with him, discern what is a good spiritual path for you. 

 

Conclusion

 

They are the thoughts that Jesus’ teaching today has stirred in me. I hope they are helpful.