A Sunday at the End of September
The end of September and beginning of October are marked by
a series of memorials and commemorations that serve to highlight the
catholicity of the Church. From the Bohemian ruler Wenceslaus and the Filipino
layman Lawrence Ruiz (a husband and father) and his martyred companions from
Japan (on September 28) to the great biblical scholar and Father of the Church
Jerome (on September 30), the cloistered missionary-at-heart Thérèse of Liseux
(on October 1) and Carthusian founder Bruno (on October 6), to the Indiana
foundress Theodora Guerin (on October 3) and the Louisana pastor and missionary
Francis Seelos (on October 5) to the beloved Francis of Assisi (October 4),
these days (which also include celebrations of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael [September 29] and the Guardian Angels [October 2]) remind us that the
possibility for true holiness isn’t limited to one way of life, gender, or
historical epoch.
The saints, who have oriented their lives toward the Other,
who have realized the fullness of humanity’s capacity for love, see in the “Lazaruses”
of the world friends and brothers/sisters: “Created in the image of the one God
and equally endowed with rational souls, all have the same nature and the same
origin. Redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ, all are called to participate in the
same divine beatitude: all enjoy the same dignity” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1934). But, this call to be with
and for others isn’t mandate only for those who have been canonized or
beatified—the Communion of Saints includes each of us, me and you, because,
after all, “what is the Church if not the gathering of the saints?” (Saint
Nicetas of Remesiana).
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| Saint Theodora Guerin (d. 1856) The Foundress of the Indiana-based Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods |
Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and the rich man offers us an insight
into what is required of us. In his encyclical Spes Salvi (“Saved in Hope”), Pope Emeritus Benedict wrote, “Jesus
admonishes us through the image of a soul destroyed by arrogance and opulence,
who has created an impassable chasm between himself and the poor man; the chasm
of being trapped within material pleasures, the chasm of forgetting the other,
of incapacity to love, which then becomes a burning and unquenchable thirst” (¶44).
The saints, who have oriented their lives toward the Other,
who have realized the fullness of humanity’s capacity for love, see in the “Lazaruses”
of the world friends and brothers/sisters: “Created in the image of the one God
and equally endowed with rational souls, all have the same nature and the same
origin. Redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ, all are called to participate in the
same divine beatitude: all enjoy the same dignity” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1934). But, this call to be with
and for others isn’t mandate only for those who have been canonized or
beatified—the Communion of Saints includes each of us, me and you, because,
after all, “what is the Church if not the gathering of the saints?” (Saint
Nicetas of Remesiana).
Competing “well for the faith”—living our call to be
disciples and to manifest the presence of Christ in the world—leaves no room
for selfish ambition, apathy, complacency, or indifference to the plight of others
(cf. Amos 6:1a, 4-7). This isn’t about political agendas, government budgets, or
some radical/liberal ideology—this is about the Gospel which forms the starting
point and is the focus of our faith.
Prayer for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time +
O God, who manifest your almighty power
above all by pardoning and showing mercy,
bestow, we pray, your grace abundantly upon us
and make those hastening to attain your promises
heirs to the treasures of heaven.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
(from The Roman
Missal)
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