My heart wrestled with the today’s scriptures. There was a terrible temptation to go on a
rant of all that is wrong with the world, our nation, our Church and even
within myself! Maybe it was the military
language used by the prophet Joel as he describes the natural disaster
descending upon the city, anticipating no effective defense or Jesus’ depiction
of two opposing forces confronting one another and the tension is building in
Gospel of Luke as the gathering force opposing Jesus will soon conspire to put
him to death.
Luke’s emphasis is on the hierarchical structure that makes a
kingdom work. The ruler governs through
the cooperation and obedience of subordinates who assure that his will
is carried out. If there are mutinous
factions, the whole enterprise will collapse. The same is true of a household or family in
Jesus’ time. If it is run by someone
strong enough to guard its treasures, there will be peace and security. But if another who is stronger comes along,
the very possessions the householder wishes to guard will become a liability.
When I consider the overwhelming invasion of evil that seems
to be enveloping every aspect of our lives making the scriptures proclaimed
today come to life. It can leave us asking
the question, “Where is God in all these painful events?”
Where is God in all of this? As much as it feels as though God has
abandoned us, our faith tells us God is right with us in the midst of the suffering. I believe the solution to our individual,
Church, national, and world crisis rests with every individual doing some good
old fashion house cleaning.
On a retreat I attended the retreat master had us participate
in an exercise he titled: “The Chapel Within”. He had us imagine what our inner chapel looks
like. Many shared their brokenness, how
their inner chapel was cluttered with stuff, broken pews, kneelers and
windows. I was currently dark and gloomy. He sent us off to contemplate and visualize
an ideal chapel. The sharing was
markedly different. God has intervened giving
us the wonderful visions of a clean and magnificent inner chapel. The challenge is the constant care of
maintaining the space. The prodigal
demon will return, with other demons worse than the first. We must actively join those gathered
around Jesus or we will be scattered among his opponents.
Few people had as great an impact on the 20th century as Pope
John XXIII, he avoided the limelight as much as possible. Indeed, one writer has noted that his “ordinariness” as his most remarkable
qualities. In his vision of a global
Church, Good Pope John enlarged the membership in the College of Cardinals making
it more international. At his opening address
of the Second Vatican Council, he criticized the “prophets of doom” who “in these modern times see nothing but [evasive speech] and ruin.” He set the tone for the Council when he said, “The Church has always opposed… errors. Nowadays, however, the
Spouse of Christ prefers to make use of the medicine of mercy rather than that
of severity.”[1]
We are being confronted with real-life examples of today’s scriptures. May we have the faith to find the presence of God’s in our midst.
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