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THE WORD

Wis 2: 23–3: 9 / Lk 17: 7–10

Jesus said to his apostles, “Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’? Would he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You may eat and drink when I am finished’? Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded? So should it be with you. When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’”

 

IN OTHER WORDS

The Apostles have a mandate from the Lord. Prior to this passage, they asked Jesus to increase their faith. But in response Jesus said that if one has faith the size of a mustard seed, that person can even tell a mulberry tree to get uprooted and be replanted in the sea. Mulberry trees are big and have roots deeply set underground. What the Lord means is that apostles are persons with a mission and their words have power. Faith is not only about believing in God; it is believing also that one has been mandated by God — that God believes in that person!

Servants who work in the fields and have to work, too, inside the house have got to be someone who has determination to be of service to one’s master; and this is dedication. Our passage speaks of being able to deliver, to accomplish what is expected. That alone is a reward.

I think of the millions of parents who work hard to give their children the dignity of gaining wisdom in school and one day having opportunities to walk tall because of their educational achievements. The dedication of these parents is priceless. That is not just service, it is a vocation well lived!

One thing I have discovered: Dedicated parents, who do not expect any return from their children, can be the happier parents. For there are cases of children who do not repay, and even become ungrateful — and that can lead to broken-heartedness. The experience of a grateful return is a bonus! However, we have to remember that Jesus also once said: “If your child asks for a fish, you do not give a serpent. If your child asks for bread, you do not offer a stone. If evil persons can care for their own child, how much more can God care. God is a loving Father.”

Expect no return, but be dedicated and believe not only in God but also in yourself, because God believes in us. One who is happy in one’s vocation and work accomplishes a lot in life. Life may not be easy, but this is why we participate in the Eucharist — to be strengthened. We are made for service because only in this way can we bring the best out of us.

  • Bernard Espiritu, SVD (New Zealand)

The Word in other words 2015

An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.

 

THE WORD

Ez 47: 1–2.8–9.12 / 1 Cor 3: 9–11.16–17 / Jn 2: 13–22

Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated there. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said, “Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” His disciples recalled the words of scripture, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” At this the Jews answered and said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.

 

IN OTHER WORDS

In Jerusalem I still remember, almost word for word, what I heard from the loudspeaker. It said: “Israel is the center of the world, for here is located Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the center of Israel, for here is located the Temple. The Temple is the center of Jerusalem, for here is located the Holy of Holies.” For hundreds of years, since the time of Solomon (1000 BC), the Temple was the unifying factor of the people of Israel. During the big feasts especially the Passover even those living from distant countries would come as pilgrims to worship in the Temple. It was convenient for them to buy the animals to be sacrificed at stalls nearest to the Temple. There were money-changers since many came from foreign lands with different currencies. Unfortunately what might have started as a pious service has degenerated into a profitable business. The Temple, the most holy haven of worship, has turned into a marketplace.

Now, I try to imagine Jesus – usually gentle, loving and compassionate – with a whip of cords in his hands. He chased the vendors of sacrificial animals and themoney changers, overturning their tables. He commanded those selling doves to remove their merchandise. “Stop making my Father’s house a market place.” Curiously nobody dared to stop him. Nevertheless the Jews asked him for a sign. His answer was intriguing: “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The evangelist John explained that Jesus was no longer referring to the building made of stones and precious materials, he was talking about his own body.

As Jesus predicted, the temple which took “forty-six years” of hard labor to renovate was razed to the ground in the 70’s AD. What is left is a small portion which used to be popularly called the “Wall of Lamentation”. There pious Jews continue to pray until now in front of the ruins hoping to rebuild it. They don’t know that the real Temple has already risen from the dead. God’s presence is no longer confined to one place. God is there in the heart of each believer.

  • Xene Sanchez, SVD (Congo)

The Word in other words 2015

An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.

 

THE WORD

FIRST READING 1 Kgs 17: 10–16

He arose and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the entrance of the city, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called out to her, “Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.” She left to get it, and he called out after her, “Please bring along a crust of bread.” She said, “As the LORD, your God, lives, I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now I was collecting a few sticks, to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten it, we shall die.” Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Afterwards you can prepare something for yourself and your son. For the LORD, the God of Israel, says: The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.”

She left and did as Elijah had said. She had enough to eat for a long time—he and she and her household. The jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD spoken through Elijah.

SECOND READING Heb 9: 24–28

For Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one, but heaven itself, that he might now appear before God on our behalf. Not that he might offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters each year into the sanctuary with blood that is not his own; if that were so, he would have had to suffer repeatedly from the foundation of the world. But now once for all he has appeared at the end of the ages to take away sin by his sacrifice. Just as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, so also Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.

GOSPEL READING Mk 12: 38–44

In the course of his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation.” He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.

Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”

 

IN OTHER WORDS

Her wealth was not her life. The poor widow must have been a very prayerful woman, because only in prayer did she recognize the proper perspective in life, namely, God must be put first above everything. She must have been aware of her total dependence on a God who cares not only for the birds in the air and the lilies of the field but for his children.

The Gospel today affirms what Bishop Pabillo said even before he became bishop. He insisted, “We can give without loving, but we cannot love without giving.” A true sign of genuine loving is when we can part ways with material and other possessions for the sake of higher and spiritual values. To share with others the blessings God continually gives us is to recognize the truth of our dependence on the goodness of the Lord.

This is probably the reason why our country is still mired in shameless poverty. Giving away things is not yet in the vocabulary of many. Hoarding is. Would that each one of us contribute to sharing our resources through simple living and by regularly sharing a part of our blessing for the good of many.

  • Atilano Corcuera, SVD (DWST, Tagaytay City)

The Word in other words 2015

An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.

 

THE WORD

Rom 16: 3–9.16.22–27 / Lk 16: 9–15

Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours?  No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at him. And he said to them, “You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God.”

 

IN OTHER WORDS

Pope Francis is remarkably down to earth and a very humble man. He stays in some apartment instead of the high-end Villa for the Supreme Pontiff and he himself pays the rent for the apartment where he lives. Like Pope John XXIII, one of his very first acts as Pope was to visit a jail in Rome, celebrating the Holy Eucharist with the inmates and washing their feet as the liturgy prescribes.  Francis is a simple man who loves the poor and the needy. He challenges us all when he writes, “How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?” (TIME, December 22, 2013)

Pope Francis begins, ends and dots his day with prayer. Rising as early as 5 AM he usually has a full load in his hands. He admits he nods off now and then, but adds, “It is good to fall asleep in God’s presence.”

  • Fred Mislang, SVD (Villa Cristo Rey, CKMS, QC)

The Word in other words 2015

An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.

 

More Articles ...

  1. November 6, 2015 Friday
  2. November 5, 2015 Thursday
  3. November 4, 2015 Wednesday
  4. November 3, 2015 Tuesday
  5. November 2, 2015 Monday
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