Readings
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November 23, 2013
November 16, 2013
33rd Sunday - C
Commentary
It Depends on How We Take It
Will suffering happen? Yes
Will there be tragedies? Yes
How about persecution? Yes
Jesus lists them all: wars,
insurrections, earthquakes, famines, plagues, awesome sights and mighty
signs. For his followers, He then adds arrest,
persecution, prisons, hatred, and even death.
We can be live in fear.
Or we can see all of these in
the way of Jesus. “It will lead to your
giving testimony.” It is in moments of trials, sufferings, and
persecution that Jesus’ followers can be witnesses to who Jesus is and what he
has done.
Wasn’t the cross the fulfilment
of God’s plan of salvation for the human race?
Wasn’t it the culmination of God’s love?
And Jesus affirms us that we
are never alone. “I myself shall give
you a wisdom in speaking….” And “Not a
hair on your head will be destroyed.”
November 8, 2013
32nd Sunday
Commentary
The Everlasting and the Fleeting
The Sadducees, in making up an
absurd scenario, illustrate their denial “that there is a resurrection.” They cannot see beyond the here and now of
this fleeting world.
Consequently, they, the temple
priests [1], find Jesus a threat to
their earthly authority and power. They
build their lives and power on their short-sighted value system of things that
do not last. They make things that one day will die their
gods.
Jesus invites us to live truly
as children of the living God whose value system is everlasting.
While we live in this world, God blesses us
with fleeting things to sustain us. May
we never allow those created and fleeting things replace the ever-living
Creator.
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[1] Footnote on Luke 20:27 and Matthew 3:7, The New American Bible, Revised
Edition, 2011.
November 2, 2013
31st Sunday - C
Commentary
The Joy of God’s Forgiveness
There are two conflicting
reactions to Jesus and his treatment of Zacchaeus.
The people who are with Jesus “begin
to grumble” because he is going to the house of a sinner.
Prior to this incident, this kind
of reaction was typical of the Pharisees and scribes when they criticized Jesus
for welcoming, and for eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners. [1]
This
time, they “all” grumble. And in this case, the pronoun “they” refers to the disciples and all those who
have been traveling with Jesus as he continues his journey to Jerusalem.
Why do they all grumble? Is it because unlike other tax collectors who
Jesus reaches out to before, Zacchaeus is a big time “bad guy”? He is “the chief tax collector.” His crime is well known. Or is
it because Zacchaeus seems to get off the hook too easily? Probably both!
Zacchaeus, on the contrary, “receives
Jesus with joy.”
Like his fellow tax collector
in the parable of last week’s Gospel passage (Luke 18: 9-14), Zacchaeus acknowledges
that he is a sinner. He climbs the tree “for
he is short in stature.” But can this
explanation also indicate his moral stature in the eyes of the people around
Jesus? Morally, he surely is “short in
stature.” He probably knows that he does
not belong in that crowd.
And like the other tax
collector, Zacchaeus accepts God’s mercy.
As a result, he can “receive [Jesus] with joy.”
To admit that one is a sinner, and to accept God’s
forgiveness are the conditions of joy.
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[1] Luke 5:30 and 15:2, Footnote, The New American Bible, Revised Edition, 2011.
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