On the Way toward Unity

God the Father, Infinite Love

We, Pallottine Sisters, are standing before you today to listen to the desires of your Sacred Heart. In the world which constantly experiences divisions, conflicts and lack of peace, we would like to become leaven of unity and prophets of communion. In union with You and among us we want to discern the way in which you intend to guide our communities.

Romans 5:12-21; Luke 12:35-38

No matter how nasty things seem, God's grace always will prevail.  I want to trust in that.  But the world makes it difficult.  I want to be awake to God's love and power.

But there is violence, war, harm that comes to children, to the innocent. Sometimes the world seems powerless to protect us from the cheat, the backstabber, the rage-addicted bully who holds the position of power.

The first of today's readings tells me that no matter how dark, no matter how bleak the landscape, God's light will rule.  All that is required of me is to endure, wait with faith and hope, and be watchful.  To be awake, alert and prepared.  To put first things first.

Luke 12:13-21

You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you.

Jesus’ parable in today’s liturgy puts me face-to-face with a key issue for my faith life:  What is my relationship with the gifts that God has given to me?  Or, another way of putting it, what are my riches, my wealth and how am I invited by God to relate to them?  In the gospel story the rich man built bigger and better barns to store away the spectacular harvest and then he told himself, “Relax! Eat heartily, drink well. Enjoy yourself.”

Exodus 17:8-13; 2 Timothy 3:14--4:2; Luke 18:1-8

Luke tells us that this parable of the persistent widow and the unrighteous judge is about our need to pray constantly and not lose hope. So maybe an alternate reading of this parable is that it's yes, about persistence and prayer and hope, but maybe it's about the persistence of God. Maybe it is us who, even though we fail to fear God or care about people, are finally worn down by the persistence of a God who longs for justice. Maybe prayer isn't the way in which we manipulate God, but is simply the posture in which we finally become worn down by God's persistence -- God's persistence in loving us. God's persistence in forgiving and being known. And God's persistence in being faithful and always, always, always bringing life out of death.

Romans 4:13, 16-18; Luke 12:8-12

Romans 4:13, 16-18  Not justified by obedience to the law. “…Though there seemed no hope, he (Abraham) hoped and believed that he was to become father of many nations in fulfillment of the promise:  Just, so will your descendants be.”

Psalms 105:6-9, 42-43  “…He is Yahweh our God, his judgements touch the whole world…”

Luke 12:8-12  Open and fearless speech “I tell you, if anyone openly declares themselves for me in the presence of human beings, the Son of man will declare himself for them in the presence of God’s angels…”

Today’s readings are lessons about faith.  See from the reading in Luke above, that Jesus tells us he will speak to Heaven about us if we declare ourselves for Him in the presence of human beings.  This lesson about faith spoken long ago are words applicable to us today.  How strong is our faith and belief in the Triune God?  How often is that faith challenged?   Sometimes we are challenged by others, and sometimes we are challenged silently inside by ourselves.  Paul, writing to the Christians in Rome, spoke about the significance of justification by faith.  Abraham, the father of many nations was led by his faith in God and was deemed upright.  Further Paul writes (Romans 4:13) “For the promise to Abraham and his descendants that he should inherit the world was not through the Law, but through the uprightness of faith.”

St. Luke, by El Greco

2 Timothy 4:10-17b; Luke 10:1-9

Today’s feast and its attendant readings offer many places to focus reflective attention. Just considering the contribution to the Church of the man we call St. Luke is important. Luke is the only known Gentile among the group of writers whose work made up the New Testament Literature. He is the author of fully a quarter of all the verses of the whole New Testament (more than all of Paul’s uncontested letters, for example) and, as a friend of both Paul the Apostle and of many of the original Twelve, he is a remarkable figure who stands at the intersection of the Church as Jewish Sect becoming Church truly catholic in its outreach and its membership in the latter years of the First Century. The thematic emphases of forgiveness, justice and love for the poor and marginalized, and healing of the sick endear many to Luke’s portrayal of Jesus. From Luke alone we have a moderately systematic outline of the spread of the earliest Church throughout the Mediterranean Basin. But what struck me about the feast and the readings chosen for its celebration, is the importance of being a friend that one can find “writ large” across the readings.

Romans 3:21-30; Luke 11:47-54

“…since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift…”

How do we get-right-with-God?  We look as squarely as we can at life’s circumstances and come in contact with our blessed weakness, our real inability to do anything to save ourselves from the incredible depths of fear that are part of seeing the vulnerability of life.  Then we can begin to gain true self-knowledge.  We begin to know ourselves as powerless and we begin to see our attitudes about that powerlessness.

Romans 2:1-11; Psalm 62:2-3, 6-7, 9; Luke 11:42-46

The reading from Romans is pretty straight forward - reminding us that “you judge another-you condemn yourself”. We forget that we all have our unique lives to live with joys, struggles and our own perspectives.  As Christians, we are called to help each other through prayer and through support not through putting another person down or rejecting others.  When other people become bothersome or annoying the readings remind us to “take our attitudes” to God, praying for understanding, insight and acceptance of other people.