Faith

‘FAST- forward’ – Friday, 22nd week in ordinary time – Lk 5:33-39

The setting of today’s Gospel is the home of Levi the tax collector (Luke 5:29). Having experienced a conversion to repentance Levi throws a banquet for Jesus in his house and present are a ‘crowd’ of tax collectors. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus has come to call all and that included sinners. However, this calling was not merely some ‘happy-clappy’ calling but a ‘call to repentance’ (5: 32). The grace of God is FREE, but make no mistake, it is not CHEAP!

Interestingly, seated among the ‘guests’ are the ‘Pharisees and their scribes’. One wonders what these purists were doing, sitting in the same company of those whom they considered sinners.  Perhaps it was their desire to take down Jesus that made them compromise on their own beliefs for we are told that “they came from every village of Galilee and from Jerusalem.” (5:17)

Having lost the first argument to Jesus about His fellowship meal with Levi and the other sinners the Jews now train their guns to cause division among Jesus’ disciples. They compare his disciples with his cousin Johns the Baptists’ disciples. The disciples of John the Baptist are drawn into the same corner of the disciples of the Pharisees as ones who fast and pray frequently while the disciples of Jesus are portrayed as gluttons and drunkards. Incidentally, the theme of ‘eating and drinking’ runs all through the Gospel of Luke prompting one commentator to say that ‘Jesus ate his way through the Gospel’.

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Musings

Giving God what is RIGHT and not what is LEFTover

Today I woke up and hit my phone first thing in the morning . A few routine messages and one rather unpleasant one and this was followed by a beautiful motivational video that brought a smile. All in all, the morning balanced out but as I went to light the candle on my altar I realized that I had placed HIM second and my phone first .

If I had reversed the order, the unpleasant message would have been easier to bear rather than it weighing down on my heart . The responses to it would have been filled with greater love.

Today I placed Jesus second in my morning and I am poorer for the graces I could have received. But then again tomorrow is another opportunity to begin my day right and I will be richer for that, for the Lord is always kind and merciful .

We give the Lord what is RIGHT not what is LEFTover .

Fr Warner Dsouza
6th September 2018

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Faith

‘Net-works’- Thursday, 22nd week in ordinary time – Lk 5:1-11

Jesus has healed Simon’s mother in law and cast out many demons in the city of Capernaum in Galilee. At all times Jesus has made it a priority to ‘proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God’. The reading of today unfolds on the lake of Gennesaret also known as the lake of Galilee, with a crowd pressing to hear ‘the word of God’.

Jesus is single minded in his mission. He is here to bring the ‘Good News to the poor’ (Luke 4:18) and He does exactly that. The crowds who have been hungering for the Word of God and not some stories or anecdotes, press in to hear Him. I think we preachers need to take a cue from the opening lines of the Gospel and stop pandering to our congregations who want ‘bed time stories’ at Mass rather than the breaking (explanation) of His word. Dwindling congregations testify to a failed methodology that continues to be employed. The consequence is that poor nourishment is dished out rather than the laity being fed by His word. Stale bread, it seems, is the order of the day.

While the modern day preacher has a pulpit, Jesus had to make do with what was available and His eyes set on two boats whose owners were washing their nets. Most of us would have protested if our work schedule was disrupted, especially since Simon and his team had worked the whole night long and were obviously winding down to not only  a disappointed catch but perhaps an empty stomach. Free suggestions from amateur anglers was certainly now what Simon needed. Yet Simon complies with Jesus request, perhaps out of gratitude for the fact that Jesus had healed his mother in law the day before.

It is interesting to see the methodology that Jesus employs in Luke’s Gospel in calling the disciples to follow Him. In the Gospel of Matthew and Mark, Jesus authoritatively calls the disciples and they leave everything and follow Him; not so in the Gospel of Luke. Here Jesus employs, what I call a ‘bait and wait’ (pun intended) methodology. He has worked a miracle in Simon’s house and turned it into a healing centre and now he uses Simon’s boat to preach his message while Simon and his colleagues wound up their day but within ear shot of this teacher and his message.

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Art/ Heritage

STRIGEL, Bernhard_El Anuncio a Santa Ana, c.1505-1510_ 380 (1978.48)

MARY – A MASTERPIECE: ‘The Annunciation to St. Anne’ by Bernhard Strigel (1505 -10)

 The story of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary begins not in an atmosphere of good fortune celebrated with pomp and song but rather with rejection, heart-aches, searching souls and an empty womb. Having been spurned and shamed at the Temple of Jerusalem in the midst of a large congregation, Joaquim left his little town of Nazareth and went off into the wilderness to fast and pray. He lamented his fate. Truly, no good could come from Nazareth. The branch of Jesse seemed to have dried and the shoot stifled.

His wife Anna was disconsolate. Childless, she would now be called a widow. How could the Almighty curse the just? How could the God of Sarah and Rachel, Samson and Samuel not hearken to her call of distress? This absolute plight of a barren mother breathes colour and life through today’s painting. Executed by the leading German painter Bernhard Strigel, the panel exudes the triumph of redemption over rejection. Hope was on its way.

In the painting two simultaneous scenes are depicted with utmost realism.  The first scene is set within a tiled room. A sorrowful St. Anne is seen overwhelmed with sadness, mourning and weeping restlessly. As she bows her head to pray, she senses a little tug at her head-dress. However her swollen eyes decide otherwise. She uses her head-dress to wipe away her tears, when once again she senses a nudge.

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Faith

Little words, big message – Wednesday, 22nd week in ordinary time – Lk 4:38-44

Often, a little word as small as ‘all’ may be lost to us in a narrative; ironically that is perhaps the most important word in a narrative or pericope. The Gospels were not written to give us a biography of Jesus but rather a post resurrection faith narrative. The primary purpose of the Gospel was not just to cover a couple of ‘where did Jesus go’ and ‘what did Jesus do’ but a communication of faith to a community of believers.  

We are studying the Gospel of Luke and clearly Luke’s audience is a Gentile one. Keep in mind that Luke is a companion of Paul on his missionary journeys and there was no greater champion for the Gentile mission than St Paul. And so plays out this little word “all”, for Luke wants to show that Jesus had come for all and “all those who were sick came to Him” and He laid His hands on “each of them.” The Gospel of Luke is inclusive, no one is left out.

However within this greater “all” of the Gospel of Luke, a certain preferential option on the part of Jesus is out on display. This is seen in particular for women, the marginalised and the poor. Jesus, having left the synagogue now arrives at Simon’s house. Curiously you will notice that in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus has first visited Simon’s house, who having experienced this encounter and the subsequent one of the great catch will then be drawn into Jesus net of disciples. For Luke, it is the “being” with Jesus that draws one closer to discipleship.

The miracle performed by Jesus in Simon’s home over his mother in law may seem a bit trivial to a modern mind. Today, a paracetamol can easily cure even a high fever but paracetamols were a long way coming at the time of Jesus. Not only was every illness linked to a ‘sinful condition’ in a person if not to some sort of ‘demonic possession’ but a fever at the time of Jesus was a deadly affair, often leading to death.  It is to make the power and position of Jesus clear, that Luke will use the words “He stood over her” and “rebuked the fever”.  The healing is instantaneous so much so that Simon’s mother in law got up and began to serve “them”.

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