A Jesuit Adventure

  My dear brothers and sisters today we celebrate the 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time year A. And for all of you who are not priests or religious you can sit back and relax a bit today as the readings are addressed more to the religious leaders and the priests. The first reading is taken from the post-exilic prophet Malachi. Malachi preaches after the second Temple was built in 515 BC by those who returned from exile. When they first returned to Judea from their captivity in Babylon, the Jews rigorously guarded against pagan idol worship in their land. But over time, they gradually gave in to this sin. In the process, they also began to lose sight of God’s purposes for them. It was during this period that Malachi was sent to instruct and guide God’s people toward a purer life. God, through Malachi, strongly rebuked the priests of his day for not showing respect and honour to Him in their sacrifices even though they called God Father and Master. The altar was the place of sacrific...

  My dear friends today we celebrate the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A. The first reading taken from the Book of Exodus continues giving more specific social and religious laws after the Ten Commandments are proclaimed. The first law refers to the offering of sacrifices to pagan gods. Whoever offered sacrifice to any gods instead of to Yahweh alone, was liable to death. While this law was often broken this penalty was rarely applied although we do see this happening when Elijah executed the prophets of Baal in the book of 1 Kings. The second law refers to our treatment of aliens or migrants or strangers. A good measure of our moral character is found in how we treat a stranger. People often find it easy to treat their own flesh and blood well, but God commands us to have a concern for others – including the stranger. The third law refers to the treatment of widows and orphans. The widows and orphans were the weakest and most vulnerable members of society. Because of their spe...

  My dear friends today we celebrate the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A. In the first reading taken from the prophet Isaiah, we are introduced to a very important figure in Biblical history – Cyrus of Persia. The context for the reading is the Babylonian exile, which began in 587 B.C. when Babylonia destroyed Jerusalem and forced the Jewish people into exile in Babylon. Many years later, in 539 B.C., Babylon fell to Cyrus of Persia, whose policies would prove to be quite different from those of the Babylonians. He encouraged the captured people to retain their culture and traditions, including their religions. Cyrus issued an edict allowing the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple. He even returned the temple vessels to the exiles for use in the new temple and provided financial backing for their return. Yahweh addresses Cyrus, revealing that he has chosen to anoint him. To be anointed means to be set apart for the role or task to which Yahweh has ca...