Recognizing Divinity

November 15: Saturday of Week 32 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

3John 1:5-8; Psalm 112:1-2, 3-4, 5-6; Luke 18:1-8

Click here for the complete text of today’s readings.

What is Jesus saying to us as stewards of his kingship?

(To support  Reaching Jesus: 5 Steps to a Fuller Life ... Step Five ) 

Recognizing Divinity

“…to send them on in a way worthy of God” (3John 1:6).

It makes no difference whether “worthy of God” refers to the helping or the journeying; John is telling believers to be divine in the way they help people who are also divine. The key to Christian living is maintaining awareness of “the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you”—and in everyone who shares in the divine life of God by grace. The Alleluia verse confirms it: “God has called us through the Gospel, to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Christians see every interaction between the baptized (including “anonymous Christians” with “Baptism of desire”) as God dealing with God in Jesus interacting with Jesus. St. Augustine said, “In heaven there will be just one Christ, loving himself.” That is what good stewards of the mystery of “Christ in us” should be striving to bring about on earth.

The problem is, we forget who God, we, and others are. That is why Jesus urges us to “pray always without becoming weary.” Not because we “think we will be heard because of our many words,” but to keep us conscious that God is our Father and we his children. He “knows what we need before we ask him” (Matthew 6:7, 26-32). But if we don’t ask him, and keep asking, we will forget this.

  

PRAY: “Live, Jesus, in my heart."

PRACTICE: In every human interaction, be conscious of Jesus in you and others.

Believing Is Seeing

November 14: Friday of Week 32 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

2John 1:4-9; Psalm 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18; Luke 17:26-37

Click here for the complete text of today’s readings.

What is Jesus saying to us as stewards of his kingship?

(To support  Reaching Jesus: 5 Steps to a Fuller Life ... Step Five ) 

Believing Is Seeing

“Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law [of love]” (Psalm 119:18).

John says the greatest deceivers are “those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh.” Bypassing the gnostic heresy John attacked, we can apply this to those who fail to see Jesus present, living and acting in the flesh of all the baptized, the members of his body on earth. Without denying, they ignore Saint Paul’s core message: “the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

Ignoring this mystery is the greatest obstacle to establishing the reign of God on earth.

If all Christians got up every morning to let Jesus work with them, in them and through them that day, we would soon transform human life on this planet.

If only all Christians treated every other as the living body of Jesus, it would radically diminish divisions, injustice, discrimination, exploitation and violence throughout the world.

Personal and family life, even when characterized by suffering, would be close to paradise. Work sites would be revitalizing. Politics would be peaceful and productive. If we only opened our eyes. If we only lived out the mystery we profess to believe: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

PRAY: “Lord, open my eyes to see you where you are.”

PRACTICE: Form the habit of saying the WIT prayer all day long: 

“Lord, do this with me, do this in me, do this through me.” 

Nondiscriminatory Collaboration

November 12: Wednesday of Week 32 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

Titus 3:1-7; Psalm 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6; Luke 17:11-19

Click here for the complete text of today’s readings.

What is Jesus saying to us as stewards of his kingship?

(To support  Reaching Jesus: 5 Steps to a Fuller Life ... Step Five ) 

Nondiscriminatory Collaboration

“Be open to every good enterprise” (Titus 3:1).

Paul insists we are not saved “because of any righteous deeds.” But we do them—not as obeying laws of human morality, but as “stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1Peter 4:10), impelled and empowered by the divine “bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

We make known the “hope of eternal life,” unveiled “when God’s kindness and love for humans appeared.” Baptism made us stewards of that revelation, responsible for creating a society that allows the whole human race to be aware of it.

Allows, not forces. As Christians we claim freedom to express divine truth publicly, so long as we don’t force others to pay attention, because this does not diminish anyone’s humanity. But as humans we oppose the public expression of some false attitudes and values, such as gross vulgarity, hate-mongering, and racial-religious prejudice, because they create a dehumanizing environment that blocks appreciation for “the good, the true and the beautiful” in creation itself. This is not inconsistent. It is preserving humanity, not imposing divinity. We fight against slime.

As stewards of the kingship of Christ, human and divine, we are “open to every good enterprise,” human or divine. We collaborate with all who seek solutions “to the problems of our time” (Vatican II, “Church in Modern World,” 10). This is responsible stewardship.

  

PRAY: “Thy Kingdom come!”

PRACTICE: Collaborate with everyone of good will. 

Live For Appearances

November 11: Tuesday of Week 32 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

Titus 2:1-8,11-14; Psalm 37:3-4, 18, 23, 27, 29; Luke 17:7-10

Click here for the complete text of today’s readings.

What is Jesus saying to us as stewards of his kingship?

(To support  Reaching Jesus: 5 Steps to a Fuller Life ... Step Five ) 

Live For Appearances

“The salvation of the just comes from the Lord” (Responsorial).

We can excuse Saint Jerome for mistranslating epiphaniam as adventum or “coming” (Rite of Communion at Mass) instead of as the “appearance” of Jesus. Today’s readings are all about “coming.” We await the salvation that “comes from the Lord”; the Father and Son who will “come to” the one who keeps Christ’s word (Alleluia verse, John 14:23). The “blessed hope” we await motivates us to “reject worldly desires and to live justly in this age.” For “the grace of God has appeared,” and is “training us” to live and work for the final “appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

We live between two comings, two appearances or “epiphanies” of Jesus: his birth, which we await liturgically during Advent, and his return in glory, which we celebrate on the feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday of the year.

Using the Immersed in Christ plan described on our website is “training” through an annual rotating focus on awareness of relationship with God through identification with Jesus (Advent-Christmas); mind-changing discipleship (Lent); prophetic witness (Easter-Pentecost); nurturing ministry as “priests”; and taking responsibility for the world as “stewards” of Christ’s kingship (Ordinary Time).

This, not “law observance,” is our job description as Christians. “When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants.’”

Christianity is goal-oriented: working for what we wait for.

PRAY: “Lord, make me a Christian, disciple, prophet, priest and steward of your kingship.

PRACTICE: Strive for five. 

Responsibility Requires Confidence

November 10: Monday of Week 32 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

Titus 1:1-9; Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6; Luke 17:1-6

Click here for the complete text of today’s readings.

What is Jesus saying to us as stewards of his kingship?

(To support  Reaching Jesus: 5 Steps to a Fuller Life ... Step Five ) 

Responsibility Requires Confidence

“He revealed his word through the proclamation 

with which I have been entrusted” (Titus 1:3).

The starting point of stewardship are the Psalm words: “The Lord’s are the earth and its fullness.” Because God is first and last in charge, Jesus says, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.” Only confidence in God’s power gives us courage in our powerlessness to transform the world.

What Paul wrote to Titus, Jesus says to every person baptized into a share in his kingship: “I left you [wherever you are] so that you might set right what remains to be done.” Each of us has different gifts and talents, different opportunities that depend on each one’s circumstances, and some particular responsibilities. Whatever they are, Jesus says to us, “Do business with these until I come back” (Luke 19:13). And we all have the general responsibility to “set right what remains to be done” in establishing Christ’s reign until he comes again.

Jesus shocks us saying, “If your brother sins, rebuke him.” It seems contrary to: “Do not judge…the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but not notice the log in your own eye” (Matthew 7:1). Nevertheless, we have to speak up to safeguard both the common good and every individual. We are “our brother’s keeper” (Genesis 4:9).

PRAY: “Lord, give me the courage of faith.

PRACTICE: Don’t keep silence due to fear.

Call To Arms

October 30: Thursday of Week 30 of Ordinary Time, Year A-II:

Ephesians 6:10-20; Psalm 144:1, 2, 9-10; Luke 13:31-35

Click here for the complete text of today’s readings. 

What is Jesus saying to us as stewards of his kingship? 

(To support  Reaching Jesus: 5 Steps to a Fuller Life... Step Five).

Call To Arms

“Blessed be the Lord, my rock” (Psalm 144:1).

Christianity is a fight; not just against the ignorance, fear, ingrained attitudes and values of people, but—we need to know this—against “the tactics of the Devil.” We are opposed by “the evil spirits in the heavens.”

 So we need to “draw our strength from the Lord and from his mighty power.” We ourselves don’t have what it takes. So, to protect ourselves, we “put on the armor of God.” We call up our divine knowledge of the “truth”; God-given confidence in our basic “righteousness”; undiscouraged “readiness to proclaim the Good News.” We use the touchstone of “faith,” against which all errors shatter; and take cover under assurance of sharing in God’s divine life, which is “salvation.” We go on the offensive with the “sword of the Spirit,” cutting through the enemy’s lies with “the word of God.”

As “stewards of the manifold grace of God,” we manage all this weaponry. We know how. If not, we take responsibility for learning through reading, instruction and spiritual direction.

Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for battle, my fingers for war.

My refuge and my fortress, my stronghold, my deliverer,

My shield, in whom I trust.

Stewardship demands perseverance. Perseverance depends on stewardship—effectively managing the resources available to us. Faith helps us identify them; hope empowers us to use them. Love gives motivation.

PRAY, when tempted: “Come, Holy Spirit!”

PRACTICE: Be on guard but unafraid.