Friday, October 21, 2016 29th Week
in Ordinary Time
First Reading: Eph 4: 1-6
Gospel Reading: Lk 12:54-59
Jesus said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once: ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. And when the wind blows from the south, you say: ‘It will be hot’; and so it is. You superficial people! You understand the signs of the earth and the sky, but you don’t understand the present times. And why do you not judge for yourselves what is fit?
When you go with your accuser before the court, try to settle the case on the way, lest he drag you before the judge and the judge deliver you to the jailer, and the jailer throw you in prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the very last penny.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
People love to interpret the signs of earth and sky to check if they’d be better off in the future. Many get entangled in superstition. In today’s gospel the Lord says, “You understand the signs of the earth and the sky, but you don’t understand the present times”. Chiara Lubich’s teaching on the call of the present moment comes to mind. “And why do you not judge for yourselves what is fit?” the Lord asks.
Let’s talk about extrajudicial killing. The Vatican II Constitution on the Church in the Modern World mandates that “The Church must continually examine the signs of the times and interpret them in the light of the gospel.” Is summary killing even of hardened sinners in keeping with the Gospel? Jesus says, “I came that they may have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10). Addressing the International Association of Criminal Law Pope Francis had said, “The so-called extra-judicial or extra-legal executions are deliberate homicides committed by some States and their agents, often making it appear as clashes with delinquents or presented as the undesired consequence of a reasonable, necessary and proportional use of force to have the law applied”.
Are we still listening to the Church? In the Gospel about Dives and Lazarus, the rich man pleaded with Abraham to send a sign to his relatives on earth so that they too may not end up in hell. The sign he asked was that someone should rise from the dead. But Abraham pointed out: “If they will not listen either to Moses or the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead” (Lk. 16:31).
The Church takes the place of Moses and the prophets. Let’s listen to the Church. Left to ourselves, we can only presume that our interpretations of the signs of the times are precise, but we are not capable of judging what is fit.– (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM, MMExM, MAPM, REB. Email: [email protected].
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