This very short gospel excerpt continues Jesus discourse to His disciples, now urging them to be watchful (Lk 12:35-38).  He tells them to be like servants who are at all hours ready for their master’s return from a wedding.  They will be blessed, and even served by their master for being thus prepared.  So we too are to be vigilant for our Master’s, Jesus’, arrival.  We tend to think of this return as the Second Coming.  That is fine.  But we also must be ever mindful that we may well be meeting the Lord before the end of time at the end of our lives.  We do not know this day or hour either.  We must strive to always be in right relationship with God, praying, fasting, taking advantage of the sacraments He has so graciously given us.  But we can take this even further.  When does Christ “arrive” for us?  Certainly in the Eucharist.  How well do we prepare for this awesome gift?  Is it preceded by frequent Confession and a firm resolve to eliminate sin from our lives?  What about the Word we hear at Mass?  Are our ears attentive and our hearts disposed to the message He is imparting to us?  Last, but not least, Christ comes to us in our neighbor, that is our fellow man.  Sometimes the figure is distorted (just look in the mirror), but we know that “whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt 25:40).  Christ comes to us as often as we want.  Be vigilant and prepared!

The encounter of Jesus and a man who feels cheated out of an inheritance leads to today’s lesson (Lk 12:13-21).  When this man shouts from the throng asking Jesus to advocate for him in a dispute with his brother, Jesus avers and then warns about the danger of greed.  This leads to a parable about the rich man who plans on building larger storage for his plentiful harvest, thinking that he will have years to relax, indulge, and enjoy it.  Yet that man was to die that very night (see above).  Jesus closes saying that man will have nothing in the end who is not “rich in what matters to God” (v. 21).  The common expressions “You can’t take it with you” and “Live every day as if it were your last” immediately come to mind with this story.  Our focus must stay fixed on the most important thing: Eternal life with God in heaven.  The Lord gives us much to enjoy on this earth, but never must anything, no matter how objectively good it is, come between us and Him.  The man in the story became self-satisfied thinking only of his bounty and how it will allow him self-indulgence, never reflecting for a moment that he might not be around to enjoy his gain.  We store up treasure in heaven by being responsible about our needs and the needs of those who depend on us, but always focusing first on God and others.  If we love God with our entire being and treat others as we wish to be treated (Mt 22:36-40), we are thinking with the mind of God and have the hope of being welcomed into our Master’s joy (Mt 25:21, 23).

Back to Mark on a Sunday, Jesus has an encounter with the brother apostles James and John (Mk 10:35-45).  They start out by saying the words above and then ask to sit at Jesus’ right and left in glory.  Jesus replies by asking them if they can drink of the same cup as that from which He will drink.  They say they can. Jesus says they will, but He cannot promise them the exalted places for which they ask.  The other ten get very angry when they get wind of the brothers’ request.  Jesus then calls all twelve together to tell them that they should not desire to rule but rather to serve everyone as Jesus Himself exemplifies and will completely fulfill in His coming death.    James and John, by starting off with those words to Jesus, show us exactly how not to act when beginning to pray.  Rather, our words are to be: “Teacher, we want to do for you whatever you ask of us.”  This is the proper disposition to have to God, i.e., humility.  Can we ask the Lord for things or intentions?  Of course.  He wants us to (cf. Lk 11: 9-12 and Mt 7:7-11).  But we must always seek to conform our wills to God’s will, saying when all is said and done: “Thy will be done.”  In fact, it is quite a good practice to incorporate into every conversation with God the Lord’s Prayer (Mt 6:9-13), from which the just quoted words are taken.  Aligning more and more closely to God’s purpose for us will bring us the freedom, joy, and peace that are the fruits of walking in the truth.

Continuing the same chapter (Lk 12:8-12), Jesus goes on to tell His hearers the words in the headline but also warns them that denial of Him will lead to denial before the angels of those who dare to do so.  He goes on to say that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable but, for those who believe, that same Spirit will guide them in their defense in speech when they are called to account by hostile earthly authorities.  Again Jesus tells us of the importance of belief in Him in order for us to gain eternal life.  But this is not only to remain a private affirmation that does not impact our public witness in word and deed.  Notice that Jesus immediately follows up the necessity of acknowledging Him with the possibility that we may suffer consequences in this life for this belief.  The promise of the Holy Spirit as our advocate is comforting — “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31).  That Christ mentions the angels is also significant.  Praying to the angels, especially the heroic St. Michael (cf. Rev 12:7-9) and our guardian angels (cf. Mt 18:10), who always see the face of God, is a wonderful devotion as well as we call down these awesome servants of God who are also charged to serve us.  Then, when we meet the Son of Man at our deaths, and stand before the angels, they will not need to hear about us from Christ, but will know us personally as friends.

Moving to the next chapter of Luke (12:1-7), Jesus begins His remarks to the pressing crowd with the words above.  In various ways He tells them that all these things they believe are being said and done in secret are known to God.  Thus, He tells them that they should be afraid, not about the death of the body but, about the eternal death of Gehenna.  Jesus ends with the uplifting note that God counts their worth as very high and that they need not be afraid.  We are wise to remember that we are never alone or working in secret.  God is everywhere.  He sees all.  He knows our hearts better than we do (Rom 8:27).  But God is not “Big Brother” watching over our shoulders waiting to catch us in sin so He can strike us down or accuse us when we die.  Rather He is there to help us in every trial, in every temptation, in every struggle.  If our mindfulness of this helps us to avoid sin — and it should — that is good.  But we know God is there to help us, to guide us, to love us.  We should speak with Him often, striving to make our whole lives — whether in word or action — a prayer that honors Him through the way we help, guide, and love others.  Then, in God’s eyes and our eyes — if not in the world’s eyes — we will never be concerned about anything that comes to light about us.

The Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist yesterday takes us back to the beginning of the previous chapter of his gospel (Lk 10:1-9).  Again we read of Jesus sending ahead of Him the seventy-two, giving them the warning above, asking them to pray for more helpers, and telling them to cure the sick and preach the nearness of the Kingdom of God.  We know that this initial warning is not meant for these six dozen disciples only.  It is meant for anyone, anywhere, at anytime who has ever proclaimed boldly their faith.  So we should be seeing this in ourselves.  And maybe we have experienced the “wolves” — those persons who mocked us for our beliefs, or those who went after us because they didn’t like the message, or those who reacted strongly to a Catholic faithful because of their negative or distorted views of the Church.  Any such experiences should not discourage us, anger us, or dissuade us from proclaiming the Good News.  Remember, it is Jesus who is sending us out!  He tells the disciples to take nothing along because He is supplying all they need.  So He supplies all our needs.  “Be not afraid!”  We heard that refrain regularly from 1978-2005.  And Blessed John Paul undoubtedly continues to intercede for those whose fear of the consequences of a bold proclamation of the gospel hinders or prevents them from preaching the gospel through their example and words.  Let us not stop spreading the Word and never quit asking for the intercessory prayers of those great men and women who exemplified fearlessness in living their lives for Christ and His message.

In the gospel of two days ago (Lk 11:42-46), Jesus continues His diatribe against the Pharisees (one of whom whose dinner party Jesus was invited to attend) with the words above.  He continues by blasting them for their desire for seats of honor and deferential greetings in public.  Jesus calls them unmarked graves (as they defile others as they themselves are defiled).  When a scholar of the law objects, Jesus takes him on as well, calling his type those who place difficult burdens on others without helping to carry them.  The warning at top remains for all believers for all time.  What good is scrupulosity in certain rituals of our Faith when we do not follow God’s commands?  Thinking that simply reciting a particular set of prayers, showing faithfulness to Sunday Mass attendance, or giving a certain percentage of income to charity equates to right living in God’s eyes is a dangerously mistaken notion.  Make no mistake, we must pray, we must fulfill our Mass obligations, and we must contribute from our means.  But if there is no love for God or neighbor we are breaking the two greatest commandments (Mt 22:36-40).  Then we are liable to judgment (cf. Mt 5;21-22 and Mt 25:31-46).  When we realize that we cannot save ourselves and that we must show the love of God to others we make progress.  Then all the things that we do will be imbued with God’s Spirit and receive the power that comes with it.

Moving to the next chapter (Lk 11:1-4), Jesus’ disciples, after watching Him pray, asked Him to teach them to pray.  He provides them with a shorter form of the Lord’s Prayer found in Matthew (6:9-13).  It is okay for us to ask the Lord the same thing.  Then start out with the Our Father.  It comes directly from Jesus’ lips.  We should say it often (relatively easy to do) and then strive to live it (considerably harder).  Spontaneous prayer is good, and regular conversations with One with whom we should build a strong personal relationship is vital for our spiritual lives, but we should always return to the Lord’s Prayer.  This is true especially when we can’t find the words for whatever reason (spiritual dryness, pain of various kinds, countless distractions, great worries and fears, and so on).  We can joyfully fall back on this rote prayer that Jesus taught all of us, knowing that this effort, done sincerely, is pleasing to our Savior.

Yesterday’s gospel (Lk 10:38-42) immediately follows the Good Samaritan parable.  Jesus enters a village where he visits the house of the sisters Martha and Mary.  While Martha takes care of matters of hospitality, Mary simply sits and listens to Jesus.  Martha complains to Jesus about the lack of help her sister is providing, but Jesus points out Martha’s anxiety versus Mary’s decision to choose the “better part” (see the headline).  Folks familiar with this little story will sometimes try to categorize themselves as either more of a Martha (active) or more of a Mary (contemplative).  Because of Jesus apparent admonition, the tendency is to value Mary’s approach over Martha’s.  This may not be the right perspective.  Jesus did not rebuke Martha for the tasks she was performing for her guests.  She was doing a proper, even necessary, thing.  It was her interior disposition, manifested in her complaint to Jesus in front of her sister, that was problematic.  Martha could well have taken care of the necessary chores while listening to the “better part” Jesus had to offer.  And she could have taken a bit of a break, also, and no one would have blamed her for drinking in the Lord’s words in that way.  Instead, she grew increasingly irritated at the work she felt she must do and the lack of relief coming from her understandably absorbed sister.  Her mind clouded, and thus not listening at all, she not only interrupts Jesus to complain, but calls out her sister — sitting right there — as well.  Jesus gently tries to get her to refocus so she can appreciate what is going on in her midst.  So we should also keep focused on the Lord, never allowing anxieties, frustrations, or busyness to interfere, distort, or even block completely Jesus’ communication with us.  There are no circumstances that should ever cause us to deprive ourselves of the better part.  If we find this difficult to overcome, we must find the time and energy to take it to prayer.  Then watch the barriers come down.

This week’s daily Masses began with Luke relaying Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:25-37).  It starts when a legal scholar tests Jesus by asking Him what is required to gain eternal life.  Jesus turns it back on him by asking what is written in the law.  The lawyer answers correctly about loving God and neighbor.  But then the man asks who his neighbor is.  Jesus responds with the story of the Good Samaritan who comes upon a severely injured robbery victim, going above and beyond to help him after a priest and Levite had previously ignored the prostrate man.  The neighbor was the one who treated the victim with mercy — as the lawyer acknowledges.  Jesus closes with the words at top.   As is often the case, Jesus presents a great challenge to hearers of all times and places.  How difficult it is to treat the abused innocent among us with mercy, much less those who we find hard to love.  In the story, the Samaritan went far out of his way, taking lots of time and sacrificing significant resources to help out the poor half-dead man — a man who likely would have shunned the Samaritan in any other circumstance.  A radical move, but clearly the Samaritan had the radical movement of the Spirit in his heart.  This episode should make us think about how we show mercy.  Do we assist the downtrodden financially, physically, and spiritually?  Are we willing to go out of our way to help those in need, even if they wouldn’t or don’t appreciate it?  Do we see the face of Christ, sometimes marred as it was on the day of His execution, and treat these poor ones as we would Him?  Do we take the easy, socially acceptable route as the priest and Levite did or do we break out of such artificial barriers to take care of the least of our brethren?  Jesus tells us to do like the Samaritan did in order to gain life.  Is there anything on this earth that should stop us from doing just that?