Readings
for
17 November 2002
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today's First Reading is from The Book of Proverbs, beginning at the 31st Chapter and the 10th Verse (Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31):

        A good wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.  The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.  She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.   She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.  She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle.  She opens her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy.   Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.   Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.

 Today's Song of Praise is taken from Psalm 128 (Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5):

R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.

R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.

R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.

R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

Today's Epistle is from the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians, beginning at the 5th Chapter, and the 1st Verse (1 Thes 5:1-6)

        But as to the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need to have anything written to you.  For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  When people say, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as travail comes upon a woman with child, and there will be no escape.  But you are not in darkness, brethren, for that day to surprise you like a thief.  For you are all sons of light and sons of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness.   So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

A Reading from the Gospel of Matthew, beginning at the 25th Chapter, and the 14th Verse (Mt 25:14-30):

        For it will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property: to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.   He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more.  So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more.   But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

        Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.  And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, `Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' His master said to him, `Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.'  And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, `Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' His master said to him, `Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, `Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But his master answered him, `You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. 

        For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'


Sermon
for
17 November 2002
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

        Today's Readings strike me as being commentary on Matt.6:19-20 -- "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust corrupt and where thieves break in and steal,  but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupts and where thieves do not break in and steal."

        The first Reading, from Proverbs, was probably meant quite literally by the original author -- and can certainly be taken that way.  A good wife is indeed a treasure -- and a bad one an affliction.  Since the Church is the Bride of Christ, it can be interpreted as guidance as to how we are to live in the world -- how to approach our fellows.  

        Industriousness, sobriety, and humility are always good things -- and should lead to a good life.  They don't always, however.

        Today's Epistle speaks directly to the condition of depressives and dysthymics:  "When people say, 'There is peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon them..."  Every time things look like they are getting good, death, doom, destruction, and despair can't be far behind --  "...and there will be no escape."

        The point of Paul's letter, however, is that, despite all the gloom and doom, we are:  "...are all sons of light and sons of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness."  Jesus came to give us the promise of eternal life and eternal happiness with the Father.  

        Today's Gospel is a tad disturbing in its images of the rich getting richer -- from the Sermon on the Mount, and such saints as Francis of Assisi, we expect that only the poor have the "inside track" -- but here is Jesus saying that sharp businessmen and moneylenders are the ones who will get praise.  "For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away."

        We usually take this parable to mean what Matt 6:19-20 points to -- that we should work on increasing our spiritual treasures.  That is certainly true, but we cannot ignore or disparage the physical world, either -- to condemn matter, the flesh, and civilization as innately evil is Gnostic heresy.

        In the Genesis account, after each day's creation, God rests and "...saw that it was good."  The earth is the work of God's hands, every bit as much as we and our immortal souls are.  Every time I hear someone going on about how evil the world and mankind are (y'all Calvinists lissen up!), I want to cry out my paraphrase of Deuteronomy:

                Shema, Adam!  Adonai echod; ha-olam echod!                                   (Hear, O Man -- the Lord is one;  the world is one!)

        Dualism -- the idea that spirit and flesh/matter are opposed, and that only spirit is good, and that all matter is inherently evil is outright heresy.  It says that the work of God's hands is evil -- that God created evil.  The Gnostics got that from Zoroastrianism, we think, and passed it on to Manicheanism, and to Calvinism in the 1500s.

        The world is certainly separate from God -- by Adam's sin, we are taught -- and from that separation comes death and error and terror.  We are to distance ourselves from that error and terror, to strive toward God, but not only for ourselves, but for all of nature and the world.  We are called to repair the separation -- to bring matter and flesh back to God.

        Monastics shut themselves away from the world, seeking the inward enlightenment.  God bless them and their path -- they are certainly part of the Church Militant on earth, fighting toward God.

        They are not, however, the only path to holiness and salvation.  The ordinary jewel of a wife -- working in the world, spinning and weaving, opening her hand to the poor, reaching out to the needy -- is also on the road to Paradise, is doing the work of the Lord -- every bit as much as the monastic in a cell.

        Feeding the hungry, working for justice in the world -- transforming it according to the vision of Christ's teachings -- are necessary parts of the Faith.  As I was telling a young man on the Net the other night, Catholics expect to work for their salvation.  We know that there is no magic phrase, no magic idea that will assure us of heaven -- as Jesus said, the ones who will enter the Kingdom of Heaven are  "...those who do the will of my Father."

        We need to "...work out our salvation in fear and trembling...' -- remembering however, that we also tremble in anticipation of ecstasy -- and what greater ecstasy than the Presence of God?  The Psalmist says:  "Blessed are they that fear the Lord.", but that fear is not only terror, but the thrill of expectation -- the hairs on the back of our necks should all rise at the  thought of approaching the Lord God of Hosts, Creator and Sustainer of all that is.

        Let us pray then, that we can all be:  "Blessed ... who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways . . ." 

         In the Name of the Father +
       
         And of the Son +
       
         And of the Holy Spirit +


         Amen.

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