34th Week in OT 2018 - Monday - Follow him wherever he may go

During the final days of the liturgical year, our readings are taken from the Book of Revelation, which is surely the strangest and hardest to interpret of all the books of the Bible.  Its style is neither the simple, sober eyewitness descriptions of Jesus’ miracles and accounts of his teaching, like the story of the Widow in the Gospel this morning, nor the straightforward principles and advice we find in the Epistles.

Rather, Revelation is a highly poetical, even mystical book filled with strange and symbolic numbers and characters.  The word Revelation literally means, unveiling, and in this final book of the Bible, heaven is unveiled.

In the reading today we get a glimpse at this group of 144,000, with the name of the Lamb and His Father on their foreheads, and they are singing.  They are the ones “who follow the Lamb wherever he goes.” They are saints! Their very souls have been marked by their willingness in life to become completely obedient to the will of God.

What does this mystical vision have to do with the poor widow in the Gospel and the end of the liturgical year?  I think, that as the Church year comes to a close, we are given these two readings to remind us to have simple faith.

Who are the ones in heaven who surround the lamb?  Simply the ones that “follow Him wherever he goes”.  Why does Jesus extol the virtue of the widow?  Because she simply gives God everything.  Her whole livelihood was given over to God. 

Why is this simple message such a hard teaching? Likely because of the size of our egos and our attachment to sin. So often we fail to follow the Lamb as we should because our idea of how our life should go differs from God’s idea. We fail to follow the Lamb in times of temptation because we have not severed our attachments to sin, and conditioned our wills to turn away from sin completely.

But the 144,000 remind us that when we give everything, like the widow, and follow the Lord everywhere in his way of complete charity and generosity toward God’s will, and then you will come to that place in heaven where the new song is sung with joy.

Our modern minds say it can’t be that easy?  Give the Lord everything?  Obey the Church and all Her teachings?  Turn away from all sin? Allow the virtue of charity to direct every action, every decision, every attitude? Our hearts know it to be true:  be "pure and follow the Lamb wherever He goes.” for his glory and the salvation of souls.

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For Pope Francis, Bishop Perez, and all ordained ministers, that their ministry may be effective in leading the Church in Christian faith, hope, and charity.

That world leaders may look upon the Son of God, believe in him, and seek the peace and justice that only he can bring.

That our young people may take seriously the missionary call of Christ, that they will turn away from the evils of our culture to spread the good news of Christ’s eternal kingdom.

For all whose lives are marked by suffering, may they come to know the healing and peace of Christ.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased clergy and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

32nd Sunday in OT 2018 - The self-sacrifice of veterans and widows

On November 11, 1919, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed an Armistice Day to be observed annually, to honor the armistice ending World War I—with major hostilities formally ending at the 11th hour of the 11th day of  the 11th month of 1918.  After WWII, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law, that November 11 would be a day to honor all veterans, and so today our country celebrates Veterans Day, and it is observed, federally tomorrow.

We thank God today for the sacrifices of our veterans. Leaving their homes, leaving their families, leaving the comforts which we all take for granted, and putting their lives at stake for our freedom. They lived and fought for the greater good, our freedoms. And what we do with those freedoms brings either honor or shame to their sacrifices.

My father, uncles, and godfather are veterans of Vietnam. Both my grandfathers were proud veterans of World War II, and my great grandfather was honored as the oldest veteran of world war I in Lake County, when he died.  I thank God for them today, and we certainly join together thanking God for the veterans in all our families, and those veterans whose names and sacrifices we will only discover in eternity.

Providence would have it that November 11 is also the feast day of veteran, one of our Church’s well known and beloved soldier Saints, Saint Martin of Tours, who is patron Saint of soldiers along with St. Michael, St. George, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and St. Joan of Arc.

St. Martin of Tours was the son of a veteran, a soldier and officer in the Roman army. Martin was actually forced to serve in the army against his will at the age of 15. But, while serving in the army, he came to understand sacrifice, honor, loyalty and it was there that he was exposed to the Christian faith. Soon Martin began to desire baptism and was enrolled as a catechumen.

There is the famous story when on a bitterly cold day, Martin met a poor man, almost naked, trembling in the cold and begging at the city gate.  Martin had nothing but his weapons and his clothes.  So he drew his sword, cut his cloak into two pieces, and gave one piece to the beggar.  Some of the bystanders laughed at Martin’s foolish act of charity. But that night Martin had a vision of Jesus dressed in the cloak he had given to the beggar. The Lord said, “Martin, still a catechumen, has covered me with his garment.”

At the age of 23, Martin ended his service to the empire and discerned a calling to religious consecration. Martin was discharged from the army and became a hermit under the direction of another saint, St. Hilary. Years later, despite his desire for a life of solitude, Martin was elected bishop. He dedicated his efforts to evangelization and promoting monastic life, encouraging many young people to enter lives of sacrificial service to Christ through lives of prayer, penance, and charity.  He continued to live the ascetic life as a bishop, always keeping to heart, “that which you did for these least of my brethren, you did for me” as he did for that beggar.

Martin’s act of charity toward that beggar, and the poverty of spirit he cultivated EVEN as a bishop was no doubt inspired by today’s Gospel, the example of the widow, who gave, not simply a portion of her wealth, but from her livelihood.

Widows had no inheritance rights in ancient Israel. They had to rely on their children, male relatives, or charity for survival. You could definitely say they had a fixed income.
Unlike the rich man in the Gospel who goes away sad because of his unwillingness to part from his possessions in order to follow Christ, the Lord praises this widow not only for her willingness to give to charity, but for her trust in God. On a fixed income, she gave not from her surplus, but her poverty, she gave from her livelihood to honor God and to provide charity for those who may have been worse off than she. And Jesus praises this.

This destitute widow is another example in the Gospels of the divine logic overturning human logic. To most people, the scribes, the chief elders, the pharisees, and King Herod, these were the real pillars of the community. But, Jesus points out that the truly holy are those who are beautiful and wealthy not on the outside, but the inside—those whose generosity flows from their love of God, not the desire to be noticed by others. Jesus condemns, in fact, over and over the scribes and pharisees for making a show of faith on the outside, while being far from God on the inside. He condemns them for the grievous corruption of what religious faith is supposed to be—not outward show, but inner union with the heart of God.

And the widow, the saints, like St .Martin, so many of our veterans, show us what the heart of God looks like: Self-sacrifice, trust in God, boundless generosity, willingness to mocked for charity’s sake, for goodness’ sake.

While visiting Cuba a few years ago, Pope Francis spoke of how the spirit of the world differs from the Spirit of Christ. He said, “The spirit of the world does not love the way of the Son of God, who emptied himself and became poor. He became nothing — he humiliated himself in order to be one of us.” The saints, who we began the month celebrating choose the way of self-emptying, Christ’s poverty of spirit, and come to discover the riches of the kingdom of God. May we do the same.

The Eucharist, which we come to celebrate today, has the power to transform our hearts to become like Christ’s. We come to the altar praying that we may have the widow’s trust, st. martin’s willingness to sacrifice his own possessions, gratitude for the freedom for which so many veterans fought for, that we may have the heart of Christ who pours himself out, that the poor in spirit may become rich in the love and life of God…for the glory of God and salvation of souls.