Catholic Caucus: Mass Readings, Sunday, 3-21-2004

While the Israelites were encamped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, they celebrated the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth of the month. On the day after the Passover, they ate of the produce of the land in the form of unleavened cakes and parched grain. On that same day after the Passover, on which they ate of the produce of the land, the manna ceased. No longer was there manna for the Israelites, who that year ate of the yield of the land of Canaan.

R. (9a) Taste and see the goodness of the Lord. I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall be ever in my mouth. Let my soul glory in the LORD; the lowly will hear me and be glad. R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord. Glorify the LORD with me, let us together extol his name. I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord. Look to him that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame. When the poor one called out, the LORD heard, and from all his distress he saved him. R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters: Whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." So to them Jesus addressed this parable: "A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, 'Father give me the share of your estate that should come to me.' So the father divided the property between them. After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. Coming to his senses he thought, 'How many of my father's hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.'" So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son.' But his father ordered his servants, 'Quickly bring the finest robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Take the fattened calf and slaughter it. Then let us celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost, and has been found.' Then the celebration began. Now the older son had been out in the field and, on his way back, as he neared the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what this might mean. The servant said to him, 'Your brother has returned and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' He became angry, and when he refused to enter the house, his father came out and pleaded with him. He said to his father in reply, 'Look, all these years I served you and not once did I disobey your orders; yet you never gave me even a young goat to feast on with my friends. But when your son returns who swallowed up your property with prostitutes, for him you slaughter the fattened calf.' He said to him, 'My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must celebrate and rejoice, because your brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.'"

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)

For: Sunday, March 21, 2004

4th Sunday of Lent

From: 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

The Ministry of Reconciliation (Continuation)

[17] Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has
passed away, behold, the new has come. [18] All this is from God, who
through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation; [19] that is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to
himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us
the message of reconciliation. [20] So we are ambassadors for Christ, God
making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be
reconciled to God. [21] For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin,
so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Commentary:

16-17. "Even though we once regarded Christ from a human point of
view": Paul seems to be referring to knowledge based only on external
appearances and on human criteria. Paul's Judaizing opponents do look
on things from a human point of view, as Paul himself did before his
conversion. Nothing he says here can be taken as implying that St Paul
knew Jesus personally during his life on earth (he goes on to say that
now he does not know him personally); what he is saying is that
previously he judged Christ on the basis of his own Pharisee
prejudices; now, on the other hand, he knows him as God and Savior of
men.

In v. 17 he elaborates on this contrast between before and after his
conversion, as happens to Christians through Baptism. For through the
grace of Baptism a person becomes a member of Christ's body, he lives
by and is "in Christ" (cf., e.g., Gal 6:15; Eph 2:10, 15f; Cor 3:9f);
the Redemption brings about a new creation. Commenting on this passage
St Thomas Aquinas reminds us that creation is the step from non-being
to being, and that in the supernatural order, after original sin, "a
new creation was necessary, whereby (creatures) would be made with the
life of grace; this truly is a creation from nothing, because those
without grace are nothing (cf. 1 Cor 13:2) [...]. St Augustine says,
'for sin is nothingness, and men become nothingness when they sin'"
("Commentary on 2 Cor, ad loc.").

"The new has come": St John Chrysostom points out the radical change
which the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ has brought about, and
the consequent difference between Judaism and Christianity: "Instead of
the earthly Jerusalem, we have received that Jerusalem which is above;
and instead of a material temple we have seen a spiritual temple;
instead of tablets of stone, holding the divine Law, our own bodies
have become the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit; instead of circumcision,
Baptism; instead of manna, the Lord's body; instead of water from a
rock, blood from his side; instead of Moses' or Aaron's rod, the cross
of the Savior; instead of the promised land, the kingdom of heaven"
("Hom on 2 Cor", 11).

18-21. The reconciliation of mankind with God--whose friendship we lost
through original sin--has been brought about by Christ's death on the
cross. Jesus, who is like men in all things "yet without sinning" (Heb
4:14), bore the sins of men (cf. Is 53:4-12) and offered himself on the
cross as an atoning sacrifice for all those sins (cf. 1 Pet 2:22-25),
thereby reconciling men to God; through this sacrifice we became the
righteousness of God, that is, we are justified, made just in God's
sight (cf. Rom 1:17; 3:24-26 and notes). The Church reminds us of this
in the rite of sacramental absolution: "God, the Father of mercies,
through the death and resurrection of his son has reconciled the world
to himself [...]."

Our Lord entrusted the Apostles with this ministry of reconciliation
(v. 18), this "message of reconciliation" (v. 19), to pass it on to all
men: elsewhere in the New Testament it is described as the "message of
salvation" (Acts 13:26), the "word of grace" (Acts 14:3; 20:32), the
"word of life" ( 1 Jn 1: 1). Thus, the Apostles were our Lord's
ambassadors to men, to whom St Paul addresses a pressing call: "be
reconciled to God", that is, apply to yourselves the reconciliation
obtained by Jesus Christ--which is done mainly through the sacraments
of Baptism and Penance. "The Lord Jesus instituted in his Church the
sacrament of Penance, so that those who have committed sins after
Baptism might be reconciled with God, whom they have offended, and with
the Church itself whom they have injured" (John Paul II, "Aperite
Portas, 5).

21. "He made him to be sin": obviously St Paul does not mean that
Christ was guilty of sin; he does not say "to be a sinner" but "to be
sin". "Christ had no sin," St Augustine says; "he bore sins, but he did
not commit them" ("Enarrationes in Psalmos", 68, 1, 10).

According to the rite of atoning sacrifices (cf. Lev 4:24; 5:9; Num
19:9; Mic 6:7; Ps 40:7) the word "sin", corresponding to the Hebrew
"asam", refers to the actual act of sacrifice or to the victim being
offered. Therefore, this phrase means "he made him a victim for sin" or
"a sacrifice for sin". it should be remembered that in the Old
Testament nothing unclean or blemished could be offered to God; the
offering of an unblemished animal obtained God's pardon for the
transgression which one wanted to expiate. Since Jesus was the most
perfect of victims offered for us, he made full atonement for all sins.
In the Letter to the Hebrews, when comparing Christ's sacrifice with
that of the priests of the Old Testament, it is expressly stated that
"every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same
sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered
for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand
of God, then to wait until his enemies should be made a stool for his
feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who
are sanctified" (Heb 10:11-14).

This concentrated sentence also echoes the Isaiah prophecy about the
sacrifice of the Servant of Yahweh; Christ, the head of the human race,
makes men sharers in the grace and glory he achieved through his
sufferings: "upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with
his stripes we are healed" (Is 53:5).

Jesus Christ, burdened with our sins and offering himself on the cross
as a sacrifice for them, brought about the Redemption: the Redemption
is the supreme example both of God's justice--which requires atonement
befitting the offense--and of his mercy, that mercy which makes him
love the world so much that "he gave his only Son" (Jn 3:16). "In the
Passion and Death of Christ--in the fact that the Father did not spare
his own Son, but 'for our sake made him sin'--absolute justice is
expressed, for Christ undergoes the Passion and Cross because of the
sins of humanity. This constitutes even a 'superabundance' of justice,
for the sins of man are 'compensated for' by the sacrifice of the
Man-God. Nevertheless, this justice, which is properly justice 'to
God's measure', springs completely from love, from the love of the
Father and of the Son, and completely bears fruit in love. Precisely
for this reason the divine justice revealed in the Cross of Christ is
'to God's measure', because it springs from love and is accomplished in
love, producing fruits of salvation. The divine dimension of redemption
is put into effect not only by bringing justice to bear upon sin, but
also by restoring to love that creative power in man thanks to which he
once more has access to the fullness of life and holiness that come
from God. In this way, redemption involves the revelation of mercy in
its fullness" (John Paul II, "Dives In Misercordia", 7).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)

For: Sunday, March 21, 2004

4th Sunday of Lent

From: Luke 15:1-3; 11-32

Parables of God's Mercy

[1] Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear
Him (Jesus). [2] And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying,
"This man receives sinners and eats with them."

The Prodigal Son

[3] So He told them this parable: [11] "There was a man who had two
sons; [12] and the younger of them said to his father, `Father, give me
the share of property that falls to me.' And he divided his living
between them. [13] Not many days later, the younger son gathered all
he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered
his property in loose living. [14] And when he had spent everything, a
great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. [15]
So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country,
who sent him into his fields to feed swine. [16] And he would gladly
have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything.
[17] But when he came to himself he said, `How can many of my father's
hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with
hunger! [18] I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him,
"Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you; [19] I am no
longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired
servants.'" [20] And he arose and came to his father. But while he
was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran
and embraced him and kissed him. [21] And the son said to him,
`Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you; I am no longer
worthy to be called your son.' [22] But the father said to his
servants, `Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a
ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; [23] and bring the fatted calf
and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; [24] for this my son was
dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began
to make merry.

[25] "Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near
to the house, he heard music and dancing. [26] And he called one of
the servants and asked what this meant. [27] And he said to him, `Your
brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because
he has received him safe and sound.' [28] But he was angry and refused
to go in. His father came out and entreated him, [29] but he answered
his father, `Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never
disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make
merry with my friends. [30] But when this son of yours came, who has
devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted
calf!' [31] And he said to him, `Son, you are always with me, and all
that is mine is yours. [32] It was fitting to make merry and be glad,
for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is
found.'"

Commentary:

1-32. Jesus' actions manifest God's mercy: He receives sinners in order
to convert them. The scribes and Pharisees, who despised sinners, just
cannot understand why Jesus acts like this; they grumble about Him; and
Jesus uses the opportunity to tell these Mercy parables. "The Gospel
writer who particularly treats of these themes in Christ's teaching is
Luke, whose Gospel has earned the title of `the Gospel of mercy'"
([Pope] John Paul II, "Dives In Misericordia", 3).

In this chapter St. Luke reports three of these parables in which Jesus
describes the infinite, fatherly mercy of God and His joy at the
conversion of the sinner.

The Gospel teaches that no one is excluded from forgiveness and that
sinners can become beloved children of God if they repent and are
converted. So much does God desire the conversion of sinners that each
of these parables ends with a refrain, as it were, telling of the great
joy in Heaven over a sinner who repents.

1-2. This is not the first time that publicans and sinners approach
Jesus (cf. Matthew 9:10). They are attracted by the directness of the
Lord's preaching and by His call to self-giving and love. The
Pharisees in general were jealous of His influence over the people
(cf. Matthew 26:2-5; John 11:47) a jealousy which can also beset
Christians; a severity of outlook which does not accept that, no
matter how great his sins may have been, a sinner can change and become
a saint; a blindness which prevents a person from recognizing and
rejoicing over the good done by others. Our Lord criticized this
attitude when He replied to His disciples' complaints about others
casting out devils in His name: "Do not forbid him; for no one who does
a mighty work in My name will be able soon after to speak evil of Me"
(Mark 9:39). And St. Paul rejoiced that others proclaimed Christ and
even overlooked the fact they did so out of self-interest, provided
Christ was preached (cf. Philippians 1:17-18).

11. This is one of Jesus' most beautiful parables, which teaches us
once more that God is a kind and understanding Father (cf. Matthew 6:8;
Romans 8:15; 2 Corinthians 1:3). The son who asks for his part of the
inheritance is a symbol of the person who cuts himself off from God
through sin. "Although the word `mercy' does not appear, this parable
nevertheless expresses the essence of the divine mercy in a
particularly clear way" ([Pope] John Paul II, "Dives In Misericordia",
5).

12. "That son, who receives from the father the portion of the
inheritance that is due him and leaves home to squander it in a far
country `in loose living', in a certain sense is the man of every
period, beginning with the one who was the first to lose the
inheritance of grace and original justice. The analogy at this point
is very wide-ranging. The parable indirectly touches upon every breach
of the covenant of love, every loss of grace, every sin" ("Dives In
Misericordia", 5).

14-15. At this point in the parable we are shown the unhappy effects of
sin. The young man's hunger evokes the anxiety and emptiness a person
feels when he is far from God. The prodigal son's predicament
describes the enslavement which sin involves (cf. Romans 1:25; 6:6;
Galatians 5:1): by sinning one loses the freedom of the children of God
(cf. Romans 8:21; Galatians 4:31; 5:13) and hands oneself over the
power of Satan.

17-21. His memory of home and his conviction that his father loves him
cause the prodigal son to reflect and to decide to set out on the right
road. "Human life is in some way a constant returning to our Father's
house. We return through contrition, through the conversion of heart
which means a desire to change, a firm decision to improve our life and
which, therefore, is expressed in sacrifice and self-giving. We return
to our Father's house by means of that sacrament of pardon in which, by
confessing our sins, we put on Jesus Christ again and become His
brothers, members of God's family" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ is Passing By", 64).

20-24. God always hopes for the return of the sinner; He wants him to
repent. When the young man arrives home his father does not greet him
with reproaches but with immense compassion, which causes him to
embrace his son and cover him with kisses.

20. "There is no doubt that in this simple but penetrating analogy the
figure of the father reveals to us God as Father. The conduct of the
father in the parable and his whole behavior, which manifests his
internal attitude, enables us to rediscover the individual threads of
the Old Testament vision of mercy in a synthesis which is totally new,
full of simplicity and depth. The father of the prodigal son is
FAITHFUL TO THIS FATHERHOOD, FAITHFUL TO THE LOVE that he had always
lavished on his son. This fidelity is expressed in the parable not
only by his immediate readiness to welcome him home when he returns
after having squandered his inheritance; it is expressed even more
fully by that joy, that merrymaking for the squanderer after his
return, merrymaking which is so generous that it provokes the
opposition and hatred of the elder brother, who had never gone far away
from his father and had never abandoned the home.

"The father's fidelity to himself [...] is at the same time expressed
in a manner particularly charged with affection. We read, in fact,
that when the father saw the prodigal son returning home `he had
COMPASSION, ran to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed
him.' He certainly does this under the influence of a deep affection,
and this also explains his generosity towards his son, that generosity
which so angers the elder son" ("Dives In Misericordia", 6).

"When God runs towards us, we cannot keep silent, but with St. Paul we
exclaim, "ABBA PATER": `Father, my Father!' (Romans 8:15), for, though
He is the creator of the universe, He doesn't mind our not using
high-sounding titles, nor worry about our not acknowledging His
greatness. He wants us to call Him Father; He wants us to savor that
word, our souls filling with joy [...].

"God is waiting for us, like the father in the parable, with open arms,
even though we don't deserve it. It doesn't matter how great our debt
is. Just like the prodigal son, all we have to do is open our heart,
to be homesick for our Father's house, to wonder at and rejoice in the
gift which God makes us of being able to call ourselves His children,
of really being His children, even though our response to Him has been
so poor" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 64).

25-30. God's mercy is so great that man cannot grasp it: as we can see
in the case of the elder son, who thinks his father loves the younger
son excessively, his jealousy prevents him from understanding how his
father can do so much to celebrate the recovery of the prodigal; it
cuts him off from the joy that the whole family feels. "It's true that
he was a sinner. But don't pass so final a judgment on him. Have pity
in your heart, and don't forget that he may yet be an Augustine, while
you remain just another mediocrity" ([St] J. Escriva, "The Way", 675).

We should also consider that if God has compassion towards sinners, He
must have much much more towards those who strive to be faithful to
Him. St. Therese of Lisieux understood this very well: "What joy to
remember that our Lord is just; that He makes allowances for all our
shortcomings, and knows full well how weak we are. What have I to fear
then? Surely the God of infinite justice who pardons the prodigal son
with such mercy will be just with me `who am always with Him'?" ("The
Story of a Soul", Chapter 8).

32. "Mercy, as Christ has presented it in the parable of the prodigal
son, has THE INTERIOR FORM OF THE LOVE that in the New Testament is
called AGAPE. This love is able to reach down to every prodigal son,
to every human misery, and above all to every form of moral misery, to
sin. When this happens, the person who is the object of mercy does not
feel humiliated, but rather found again and `restored to value'. The
father first and foremost expresses to him his joy, that he has been
`found again' and that he has `returned to life'. This joy indicates a
good that has remained intact: even if he is a prodigal, a son does not
cease to be truly his father's son; it also indicates a good that has
been found again, which in the case of the prodigal son was his return
to the truth about himself" ("Dives In Misericordia", 6).

The Father's Love

03/20/04

As we meditate on today’s gospel text, the well-known parable of "the Prodigal Son," we consider the three characters of the story: the father, the prodigal son, and the older son.

We begin with the prodigal son. The term "prodigal" literally refers to wasting money, but money is the least important thing this son wastes, as he also throws away his home, his future happiness and peace, and, most of all, his relationship with his father. And he wastes all this, as Scripture tells us, in "a life of dissipation," implying a life of sinful self-indulgence in all matters of worldly flesh.

The second character to consider is the older son. He seems to be a good man — a faithful and obedient son. But he is also tempted to waste his relationship with his father, as he becomes resentful of his younger brother and, ironically, imitates him by also separating himself from his father: "He refused to enter [his father’s] house."

You and I can easily relate to these two sons. Some identify more with the younger son: We have wasted so many good things God has given us in the past. We also throw away so many good things He wants to give us now in His earthly home, the Church, and we risk losing all the good things He wants to give us in His eternal home, in heaven. How many times do we squander morality, praying, the sacraments, the Scriptures, the teachings of His Church, and even the promise of heaven itself, as we pursue the things of this world like pleasure, money, comfort or "success"?

On the other hand, some may identify more with the older son. Maybe we feel pretty good about ourselves: we go to Mass every Sunday, we do everything the Church tells us. But we corrupt all that when we resent the fact that no one recognizes how holy we are, or when others less worthy than we are seem to be better off than we are. Or worse, we treat God and His Church as our private possession that no one else should share in: we fail to evangelize our non-Christian neighbor, and worst of all, we refuse to share the fullness of our Catholic faith with our Protestant and fallen-away-Catholic friends — are these not our brothers, and is not the Church their Father’s home too?

But whether we identify with the older or the younger son, we can all appreciate the father of the story — who, of course, represents our heavenly Father. He is generous in that, knowing we may abandon Him at any moment, He still shares His goodness with us: "The father divided the property between them." He is humble in respecting our free will to choose to be with Him or not: "The younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country." He is just in that He demands that we must recognize and confess our sins as offenses against Him that make us unworthy to be called His children: "Father, I have sinned against...you; I no longer deserve to be called your son." And He is merciful in that He so eagerly forgives us, whether we have abandoned Him or simply grown selfish in His home: "You are here with me always; everything I have is yours. But now we must...rejoice, because your brother was...lost and has been found."

In this holy season of Lent, let us "come to our senses," repenting our sins and coming home to our Father’s love.

Fr. De Celles is Parochial Vicar of St. Michael Parish in Annandale.

Homily of the Day

Title: This Is What God Is Like!
Author: Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Date: Sunday, March 21, 2004

Lk 15:11-32

A man was in urgent need of legal advice, so he went to the office of a very clever but very crooked lawyer.
"How much do you charge?" he asked.

"A thousand dollars for three questions," replied the lawyer.

"Isn't that an awful lot?" asked the client.

"Yes, indeed it is," smiled the lawyer. "And what was your third question?"

+ + +

Not a very nice guy! But he couldn't hold a candle to those two rotten sons in the gospel. The first son wanted his father dead so he could inherit the estate. When he got tired of waiting, he demanded his half now - as if he had a right to it. He took it, left town without a forwarding address, and before long he was broke.

The second son was the perfect little rule-keeper, dutiful, obedient, smiling, always on time. But underneath the mask was a heart burning with resentment. He hated his father, first for giving away half the estate, and then for taking the brother back. And he hated his brother for having a good time!

Each son in his own way had cut himself off from the one thing that every human being desires and needs most, and that is communion, big family, which is rooted in a willingness to give oneself to others without counting. Like all of us, the two sons needed to give and to share, but they'd burned their bridges behind them and had locked themselves in ugly little prisons of resentment and greed. And they were stuck there!

It would be tempting to say, "A pox on both your houses!" But that's not what their father did. He built a new bridge to each one - so nicely symbolized by that feast full of friends for the younger son, and by the father's words to his older son, "You are with me always, and everything I have is yours."

That's what God is like, constantly reaching out to us, building new bridges to connect us with Him and with each other, breaking down the walls of the prisons we've locked ourselves in, and pulling us back into the bosom of His family.

That's what God does for us. And that's what He asks us to do for one another: To build bridges, to bring people together, to help one another learn how to give life and receive it, to help one another break free of whatever enslaves or imprisons us.

That's our vocation as Christians, building family. It's a huge vocation; and, when we get it right, it's the happiest and best work in all the world!

May God bless us all, and bless our work as we build His family here, in this place, day by day. Amen.

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