The Nexus

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Lectionary Readings for the 26th Sunday of the Year,
Year C

“You were well off in your lifetime while Lazarus
was in misery.”

In the gospel for the 26th Sunday of the Year, we
see the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.  In
the parable, Jesus shows that in God’s judgment,
the rich man who did not share his wealth with the
poor man Lazarus, went into torment, while Lazarus,
who lived miserably and with sores on his body,
went to the comfort of Father Abraham’s bosom.
The gospel is very picturesque as it calls us
to imagine two scenes that were suddenly reversed.
The first scene shows the rich man who lived
in revelry and feasting every day and Lazarus
covered with sores and very very hungry.  Then
came a point when both of them passed away. And
then we see the scene reversed: Lazarus living
in the consoling presence of Abraham and the
rich man experiencing the torment in the abode
of the dead.

This parable of Jesus is a pattern that is often
seen in the gospels.  We see it also in Mary’s
Magnificat: “he [God] has brought down the mighty
from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly”.
In the gospel of Luke, Jesus speaks about blessings
and woes: “Happy are you who are hungry now; you
will be filled!…how terrible for you who are
full now; you will go hungry”.  It seems that
in the Kingdom that Jesus is preaching about,
He makes a lot of room for those who have
experienced much poverty and misery in life.
He gives them hope.  And for those who lived
very comfortable lives unconcerned of those who
are suffering, there would be torment in the
next life.

This parable that Jesus presents to us helps
us to see the truth about ourselves - especially
how we relate with those who have less in life.
It helps us to examine our relationships with
those “little” people who we see everyday and
who serve us with our daily needs.  How do we
treat them?  Perhaps the parable can “alert”
us to the reality of God’s judgment upon our
actions that belie selfishness and no effort
on our part to help or support someone in need.
It could also be within our neighborhood. We
can ask ourselves: “why did I refuse to give
to that beggar who was asking money from me?”
Or in the family, we can examine those situations
when we withheld sharing something of our own
to our children. Why did I refuse to give what
could have been given?

Charity is a direction we can take in our
Christian lives.  It is a direction many holy
people have taken: people like Mother Teresa
or John Paul II.  But let us also be realistic
in our actions.  One or two selfish acts do
not destroy a direction to be charitable. We
may backslide and sometimes find ourselves
centered much on self, but if we commit
ourselves to love God, and our neighbor as
ourself, then the direction towards charity
will be assured.  The ideal is to make every
moment count and every moment an opportunity
to be charitable to our family member or
neighbor.  It need not be material. It may
mean sharing one’s time, or a gesture of
support, or just a word that shows we
are concerned, we care, or we understand.
The more we become charitable, the more God
will be pleased with us.

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Lectionary Readings for the 25th Sunday of the Year, Year C

“You cannot give yourself to God and money.”

The gospel for this Sunday involves a parable and
a teaching on Jesus on money matters.  The parable
is about a dishonest manager who dissipated his
master’s property.  When the owner learned about
this, he told the manager that his service is
about to come to an end.  Since the manager had
to find a new way of making and earning a living,
he thought of a means to renew and make new business
relationships with his master’s clients.  He went
back to these clients and “reduced” their debts
in his master’s business.  When his master learned
about what his employee had done, he was surprised
at his employee’s enterprising and wise act.

Aside from politics and religion, money matters are
one of the realities that sometimes causes strife,
division, and enmity among those who are involved
in it.  Even in the very sanctuary of marriage and
family life, painful conflicts may arise if the
family members are not careful in dealing with
these matters.  It often arises when inheritance
is being divided among family members.  It is at
this time that a lot of prayers must be made by
the family and friends of the family. Or relatives
of the family members would do the family a great
favor if they also pray that the family may not
be destroyed by money matters.

Money is also important in our modern life as
Catholics.  It is a means for us to improve our
living and make our life one that is pleasing to
the Lord.  But we need to be very careful in
dealing with money.  If we are not careful, we
may succumb to the temptation to give ourself
to money instead of to God.  The way we can
proceed in caution with regards to these matters
is to keep our eyes fixed on Christ.  For when
our finances are shaken and there seems to be
little left in order to continue living, if
we focus on this problem and turbulence, we
may sink in hopelessness and lack of faith in
ourselves and in God.  But if we fix our gaze
on the provident care of God, He will grant us
faith and confidence that will help us deal with
our family’s finances.  Placing our trust and
confidence in Jesus can also guide relations
with one another so that people may place the
center of their lives on God.

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Lectionary Readings for the 24th Sunday of the Year, Year C

“Rejoice with me because I have found my lost
sheep.”

The long form of this Sunday’s gospel includes the
parable of the prodigal son.  The short form just
presents the two parables of the lost sheep and the
lost coin.  When we read the text of this gospel
from Luke, we see certain words that recur again
and occur several times in all the three parables
- like a theme that tells us of how God sees us
when we sinners come back to Him.  The words ‘lost’,
‘finds’ or ‘found’, and ‘rejoice with me’, occur
in all three parables.  There is a pattern in the
parables of something that was lost, and then is
suddenly found, which evokes a reaction of joy that
wants to be shared with others.

This is how the Lord reacts to any one who has
been lost from His fold but returns and is humbly
repentant of his sins: “He does not anymore feel
the sorrow of what was lost but He goes out to
His son and brings Him back to His house”. The
theme of ‘rejoice with me’ triumphantly resounds
three times in the three parables.  The lost sheep
is found, the lost silver piece is found, and
the prodigal son is found - returning to his
father’s house.  This is like the experience of
a woman in labor.  When she is in labor she is
in pain, but when she gives birth to a child,
she forgets her pain and rejoices in joy for she
has borne a child.

When we lose something in life, we are in pain.
It could be a relationship we had in the past
that was broken due to many circumstances and
factors that often are beyond our control. In
the time that we are enduring the pain of the loss,
we suffer and we feel the emotional pain of that
circumstance.  But in time, when wounds are healed,
when time has passed by and we are led to do what
we ought to do in everyday life, we forget the
pain.  But if we have the opportunity to restore
the relationship and it does come when we least
expect it, our past sorrow or the pain that has
not completely healed in our heart will give
way to the joy of being restored to one another.

That also has a lot to do with our relationship
with God.  Maybe there was a time that we refused
to go to Mass and we rationalize and say that
anyway I do good to my fellow man and I do not
do any harm to anyone.  Slowly and gradually,
that instance of not going to Mass may lead to
a pattern that finally we stop praying altogether
and finally fall into a certain form of activism.
This weakens our relationship with the Lord and
we find ourselves suddenly without help from Him.
He will call our attention by something sudden:
an accident, a disaster, a death, a loss of a
job.  Then when we find ourselves alone and
no one to run to for help, we seek the Lord and
tell Him how sorry we are because of our pride
and we return to Him as the prodigal son
returned to his father.  The Lord is merciful;
He is the Good Shepherd who seeks what is lost
and always accepts us back if we are humble and
repentant of our sins.

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Lectionary Readings for the 23rd Sunday of the Year, Year C

“…If he does not renounce all his possessions”

When we read the story of the call of the apostles
in the gospels, we find them leaving their families
and livelihood behind.  Upon the call of Jesus,
they dropped their nets, left their father and
their boats, and went on to follow Jesus.  Some
bible scholars say that there is something more
to this than just what we plainly read.  Perhaps
these apostles have heard of Jesus and they knew
that He was preaching about the Kingdom of God.
Or perhaps, in one of their rests, they were able
to see Him and listen to Him - being part of the
crowds who gathered around Jesus.  And so they
had time to reflect on what this meant and was
also wondering who this Jesus is.  When Jesus
Himself came to them and invited them to join
Him, they were, as it were, already aware of what
this entailed and required of them because of
what Jesus was preaching to the crowds.

The call of Jesus involves many responses. Some
responses, like the response of the apostles meant
a radical change in their state of life.  Peter
was married but upon the call of Jesus, Peter
left his home and also his livelihood as a
fisherman.  The other apostles were similar in
their life situation with Peter and did the same
also.  A radical response to God’s call is often
associated with the call to the priesthood and
the religious life.  Those who enter this state
of life are like the apostles who left their
homes, their family, and their livelihood. However,
not all responses to God’s call involve a radical
change in one’s state of life.  Just as Jesus
had as friends Martha, Mary and Lazarus, and we
know that this family served Jesus, listened to
Him and obeyed His teachings, they also responded
to the call of Jesus to be part of the Kingdom of
God without necessary radically altering their
states of life.

Whatever be our response to the call of Jesus,
be it a radical response like the apostles or a
simple response like the Bethany family of Martha,
Mary, and Lazarus, what we are called to do is
give our entire self and life over to Christ who
is our Healer, our Teacher and our Shepherd.
Christ’s call is to everyone.  Crowds were free
to listen to Him during His lifetime.  So no one
is excluded from His Kingdom.  Even tax collectors
and prostitutes are given by Jesus the opportunity
to amend their lives and return back to God and
their families healed from their sin.  It is the
quality of our response to Jesus that differs
among ourselves.  And this quality of response
does not mean only the external response of
leaving everything behind in order to do God’s
will.  Sometimes the quality of our response is
one that is rooted deep in our heart - where we
have made God alone to dwell.  An undivided heart
for the Lord is also a quality response to Jesus.