Tuesday word, 16 Oct 18

28^th Tuesday of the Year (16 Oct 2018)

Gal 5. 1-6; Ps 119; Lk 11. 37-41

Homily of Fr. Paul Panaretos, S.J. during Full Spiritual Exercises

Review Questions

A review of Jesus activity as we heard it over 6 days poses questions for us on retreat. After Jesus answered his disciples request and taught them to pray Jesus attended to the concerns of others. First, Jesus healed a person in the grip of demonic possession. Freeing the person amazed the growing number of people gathering around Jesus—but not all. Another’s good fortune threatened them, and Jesus and his ministry angered them. 

• Questions for us: Am I in awe of God’s loving kindness? Or, am I upset because God loves?

Angry ones missed God’s caring presence—the bible’s phrase, finger of God, communicated that. Finger of God first described God’s care when Pharaoh summoned Moses to end the plagues. I was surprised to recall who first spoke the phrase: Pharaoh's magicians. The magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them.¹ 

• Questions for us: Do I desire a more supple, receptive heart? 
• Am I asking God to transform me? 

Others seemed captivated by Jesus’ person. The glare of their admiration blinded them to Jesus’ message of God’s closeness to them and all. Given the resistance Jesus had faced I used to hear the words shouted to Jesus, Blessed is the womb that carried you, and the breasts that nursed you, as a sincere blessing. Jesus saw through them; he clarified he was in the service of his message: On the contrary, blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and do it!

• Questions: does my admiration—even adoration—of Jesus blind me to how Jesus invites me to join him in living his message?
• Am I reluctant to proclaim it with my choices? In his homily yesterday Greg opened our eyes that reluctant prophets live today.

All sorts peopled the growing crowd around Jesus: angry people; resistant, hard-hearted ones; personal admirers who seemed clueless that Jesus lived a message: God is present and will heal and transform those who are willing. Jesus contended with another circle: those hostile to both him and the message he lived.

As the gospel unfolds Pharisees embody hostility. Urban, middle class and few—1% of the population of Palestine—they wielded power to their advantage not for others. Power warped their inmost selves. They hid their rapacious hearts behind ritual observances many could not afford. Rituals available to all, Pharisees  observed in ways to outdo others. They trusted their rituals more than God!

• Question: Whom do I trust?

Jesus accepted the invitation of a Pharisee—Jesus reached out to everyone. Jesus reclined without ceremonially washing; that shocked his host and other guests. Hospitality melted into hostility. Jesus defended himself: Pharisees were more concerned about appearances than their inner selves. Cleans-ing outside does not get at one’s inner self. Jesus echoed the Psalmist in calling Pharisees fools bible-speak for those who resisted the wisdom God offered freely and generously. The Psalmist put it crisply: Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.”² 

• Questions: Am I discovering myself? Do I fear my true self? 
• Am I inviting Jesus to help me look at my inner self and love me so I can love myself and others? 

Never is it too late to join Jesus and welcome him into our lives. Jesus accepts our every invitation to join us and leads us nearer to our freedom with and in him--the freedom he offers us.

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1. Exodus 8.19 in the Septuagint (LXX), the bible of the apostles and the earliest church.
2. Psalm 14.1.

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Wiki-image Jesus dining in a Pharisee's home PD-US; God's love lights our path JRC