dignity

In coming to know Jesus as a person, we can better know ourselves and each other.

In the Gospel reading today, Jesus is accused of being an agent of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, because he was exorcising a demon from a man that was mute. Jesus addressed the critique and showed the polarizing nature of the onlookers who were unwilling to see the healing before them for what it was. Jesus then stated the obvious: “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house” (Lk 11:17).

If Jesus was an agent of the prince of demons, he was not a very good one. Satan seeks to sow discord and division. Jesus seeks to bring about unity. Now it is true, that five verses later in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is recorded as saying: “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division” (Lk 12:51). Anyone feeling a bit confused? Welcome to the wonderful world of the Bible and discipleship!

To understand Scripture, we need to understand the context of the whole of Scripture, not just isolated verses. To be a disciple, we need to know and trust Jesus, even when we hear something that does not upon first hearing make sense. Throughout the ministry of Jesus, he seeks the unity that all may be one as he and the Father are one (cf. John 17:21), yet he has consistently experienced those that rejected his message as well as not acknowledged the source of his healings and exorcisms as witnessed in today’s Gospel account. Because of their hardness of their hearts, some among the witnessing crowd were unwilling to acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God and so there must be a reason for how he performs exorcisms and miracles.

The reason is that Jesus drives out demons, “by the finger of God” (Luke 11:20). His listeners would have picked up on this referential term, for the Pharaoh’s magicians and sorcerers made this same statement when they could no longer produce the effects of Moses and Aaron’s plagues after their infesting the land with gnats (Exodus 8:19). So just as Moses and Aaron were operating through the will, the finger of God, so too was Jesus.

In following the will of God, Jesus demands a choice. Then and now. We need to decide if we are either going to be for him or against him (cf. Lk 11:23). The division Jesus is talking about results from those who choose not to recognize that Jesus is who he says he is and reject him and those who accept him for who he is and follow him. This choice continues to cause division within households, families, and friends even today, even among those on both sides that say they are following Jesus!

The greater take away from this verse and Jesus’ teachings as a whole, is that when we are unified, embracing the gift of our diversity, we are stronger than when we are divided by limiting ourselves to mere labels, curving in upon ourselves. In our modern context, labels, such as liberal and conservative are not helpful, whether they are being used in a political or religious context. Life is not as black and white as many would like it to be. It is certainly easier to cast labels, but interactions with people and developing relationships are much more nuanced. We are not mere cardboard cut outs, or caricatures.

To better understand the essence of who we are as human beings demands greater time and experience of each other than an outward appearance or isolated statement may portray. Many more of us, if we shake off any label for a moment, could honestly admit to believing in and supporting issues that are important to us from both sides of the so called left or right. That stated, I am also not stating in a reductionist way that there is no objective truths. There is. The foundational truth of reality is that Jesus is the Son of God and we are his beloved daughters and sons. If we can begin from that truth, we will be off to a better start I our dialogue.

Many times, once we have cast a label, we believe that we have “defined” the person. They are classified in their box and tied up in a neat and pretty bow, and woe to the person who resists being boxed and bowed. I remember reading from one of the books from the tracker, Tom Brown, Jr., in which he described how many people when seeing a bird, such as a blue jay, robin, or crow, are often satisfied with the label, the naming of it, and move on from that sighting self-satisfied. They think that in that simple identification they now have come to understand all that there is to know about that particular species of bird. So much of the essence and majesty of one of God’s amazing creatures is missed by such a simplistic and limiting classification!

Unfortunately, we do the same with each other. We can prejudge, as did some of the crowd who said that Jesus cast out this demon because he was in league with Beelzebub instead of through the power of God. We can also falsely believe we know everything there is to know about a person or group we prejudge. This is a very limiting and divisive approach. Jesus invites us to encounter people, to spend time, get to know one another, and break bread with each other just as Jesus did. In spending time with one another and sharing experiences, the caricatures can be filled in with some substance and we can come to know a little better the person beyond the prejudgment.

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it may very well be a duck, but the duck is also so much more than its classification. This is much truer for us as human beings created in the image and likeness of God.

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Photo: Spending quiet time with Jesus helps us to experience and know him and to better experience others as he knows them.

Link for the Mass readings for Thursday, March 12, 2026

We care for one another when we are willing to see God in one another.

Jesus said to the Pharisees: “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table” (Lk 16:19-21).

Two key points stand out right from the beginning of today’s Gospel regarding the two main characters of Jesus’ parable. The first is that this rich man has all he needs, and more, and is quite comfortable, and in his wealth and excess, he never even noticed the man Lazarus or his need. Lazarus who sat at his door presumably for some and died there from neglect.

Biblical scholars from the Church Father, Tertullian, living in the second and third century, to modern scholars today see in this telling of the rich man an allusion to Herod Antipas (Gadenz, 287). Herod who was compelled as well as feared, and then had John the Baptist killed, also “kept trying to see Jesus” (Luke 9:9). Had he spent some time himself with the poor, he would have had a better chance of that happening. Herod would later get his chance and was “very glad to see Jesus” when Pilate sent Jesus to him to be judged.

Whether or not Jesus intends the rich man to be Herod, the Pharisees, or anyone who does not follow the will of his Father in being generous to the poor, In sharing this parable, Jesus is not just pointing out something new. He is echoing the prophets such as Amos who said “Woe to the complacent in Zion” (Amos 6:1). The rich man is complacent, indifferent to the dire need of Lazarus who is right at his door. How many times did this rich man just walk by him paying him no notice?

The second point in this account is that the poor man, Lazarus, a homeless, hungry, and dying man is named, and the rich man is not. For ancient people’s, those without a name were those that had no status, were outcasts, lost. Jesus is turning over the table on this man from the very beginning of his parable in leaving him unnamed. The tragedy, because of this man’s unrepentance while he is alive, is that he will remain unnamed after his death.

The man’s indifference and complacency toward those he kept at arm’s length, highlighted by his treatment of Lazarus, allowed there to be a separation between them instead of the unity God calls for. This choice became an eternal choice and created the wide chasm between him and Abraham. This distance was of his own making because he did not seek to come close to Lazarus in life. In separating himself from Lazarus, he separated himself from God.

Jesus makes this same point in Matthew 25:31-46 when he taught that what we do not do to the least of these: the hungry, thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the imprisoned, you do not do to me. Jesus identifies himself with the poorest of the poor. Lazarus also dies and experiences an opposite fate as he is brought to the bosom of Abraham.  Jesus here is echoing the Beatitude he shared earlier: “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours” (Luke 6:20).

The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus that Jesus shared speaks an important truth to us today. Jesus is showing the importance of our interconnectedness and call to nurture relationships. He is not calling us to create a utopian ideal but to repent and allow the Holy Spirit to transform us as we learn and follow the commandments of God. We are to be open to meeting each other not as the rich man regarded Lazarus with indifference and contempt but to instead be aware of the needs of our neighbors, our brothers and sisters, to care, and to love one another person to person by willing their good.

Pope Leo offered similar advice a few weeks ago: “We need an extensive ‘covenant of humanity,’ founded not on power but on care; not on profit but on gift; not on suspicion but on trust. Care, gift and trust are not virtues to be practiced only in one’s spare time: they are pillars of an economy that does not kill, but deepens and broadens participation in life.”

Jesus encourages us to resist the temptation of callousness, cynicism, and indifferentism and to be open to breathing, receiving, resting and abiding in his love and to follow his lead to love others in concrete ways. A good place to start is to be willing to come close, to offer a smile, or to listen to another in need. In being willing to see Jesus in each other, “God in every human being” (St. Mother Teresa), we can then learn and put into practice the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. In doing so, we love God, our neighbor, and ourselves and help to make our corner of the world a little better.

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Painting: “The Poor Lazarus at the Rich Man’s Door” by James Tissot.

Link for the Mass for Sunday, September 28, 2025

Link for Pope Leo XIV’s address to the 3rd world meeting on human fraternity, September 12, 2025

Are we weeds or wheat?

“’Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where have the weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ He replied, ‘No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them. Let them grow together until harvest” (Mt 13:27-30).

The master warned his servants to let the wheat and weeds grow together until they were more mature at the time of the harvest, so as not to pull up the wheat with the weeds. Weeds in this verse is translated from the original “Greek [as] zizanion [which] refers to a noxious weed that in its early stages closely resembles wheat and cannot be readily distinguished from it” (Harrington 2007, 204). Both, in their immature state, were indistinguishable.

Jesus is helping his disciples and to resist the temptation of condemning one another. Even when there are those who commit heinous acts of evil, and we may feel justified, Jesus says no. We are to convict another of their actions, and we are certainly to hold each other accountable, but condemn, no. The Father is the ultimate arbiter and judge. The Father sent his Son, not to condemn, but to save. There is always hope for repentance and a change of heart.

All of humanity has been created in the image and likeness of God, each of us are a unique gift to this world. We have been created good, yet all of us fall short of the glory and grace of God and because of our fallen nature our image and likeness to God has dimmed. God the Father will judge at the end of time between the wheat and the weeds and only he knows the time or the hour. Let us leave the judgment to God. Our invitation is to repent and align ourselves to the will of God, to encourage each other in the maturation process which can include, convicting others when needed, yes, but above all with love, willing each other’s good.

We are to resist the temptation the poisonous practices of gossip, prejudice, and self righteousness that create division and separation. Instead let us welcome, nurture and care for one another, promote unity while respecting the diversity of each person and their thought. We can disagree and have a good argument when we keep it at the level of an exchange of ideas while refraining from dehumanizing one another, and in the end accompany and be there for one another through thick and thin.

Not an easy path. What will help us, is to recognize that we are all in need of healing and transformation. Let us pray for patience, understanding, seek forgiveness, as well as be willing to forgive each other. Life, even when going well, is hard. We need the encouragement and support of each other if we are to mature and actualize the fullness of who God calls us to be as we strive through God’s grace to restore our image and likeness to God. “Encourage each other while it is still today” (Hebrews 3:13)!
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Photo: No wheat on Rosary walk but did find some sea oats. Riomar Beach, Vero Beach, FL.

Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, July 27, 2024.

Harrington SJ, Daniel J. “The Gospel of Matthew”. In vol. 1, Sacra Pagina Series, edited by Daniel J. Harrington. Minnesota, Liturgical Press, 2007.