Thirty First Sunday of Ordinary Time (Mt. 23:1-12) “Help Me”

Thirty First Sunday of Ordinary Time (Mt. 23:1-12) “Help Me”

In the chapter before the section of Matthew’s Gospel that we just read, some Pharisees come to Jesus and try to trip him up.  The Sadducees quiz Jesus about his belief in the resurrection.

The Sadducees were part of the Jewish religious establishment along with the scribes and Pharisees.  The three groups weren’t always in agreement with each other.  But they seem to be united in one thing in the Gospels which was that they don’t appreciate the upstart Rabbi from Galilee named Jesus who was developing a following.

The religious professionals liked to think that they were in control.  The Sadducees, scribes and Pharisees believed that they had all the answers that anybody could want about things concerning God.  Control was the key word.  If they had control of religious information, then they were secure.  If they admitted someone outside their circle had relevant knowledge, they would lose their privileged status.  Unfortunately, they didn’t seem willing to listen and to learn from our Lord.

A story is told about a priest who was preaching at his father’s funeral.  The father had lived to be 90 years old.  The priest shared that his father was a man who always liked to be self-sufficient.  He never wanted to owe anyone anything.  Up until he was about 75, he was fiercely independent. 

But then things started to unravel.  First his wife died.  The man was plunged into deep sorrow.  He felt a loneliness that he hadn’t ever felt before.  The death was followed by another set back in that the priest’s father had a stroke.  He ended up in a wheelchair.  He was unable to live alone anymore.  He had to be placed in a nursing home for the last five years of his life. 

The man had to be fed, he could not bath himself.  He had to be lifted in and out of bed.  He hadn’t been so helpless since he was a small child, but he changed.  Eventually, when people would come to see him, he would freely say, “Please help me.” The priest said that he believed the last ten years of his father’s life were a tremendous blessing.  His father learned to admit his vulnerability.  He also learned to trust in the benevolence of God.  And these are the most important lessons that any of us can ever learn. 

Self-sufficiency is one of the biggest myths that we need to deal with in our life.  Nature is always conspiring to teach us that we will never be able to keep our independence forever.  The process of growing older, losing our health, going through the dying process is calibrated to teach us that we aren’t in charge.  If we think we are, it is an illusion.

During this past week we have reflected a lot on death and dying. We have celebrated All Saints Day and All Souls Day.  We have the book of remembrance that we inscribe names in.  We have built an altar of the dead in our church with pictures of departed loved ones placed on it.

Most of us have accompanied loved ones as they have gone through the dying process.  If the death is sudden, control is taken away quickly.  If death unfolds over time, we may have had the experience that the priest had with his father.  The dying person teaches us lessons in self-surrender in their final days.  Humility is perhaps the hardest Christian virtue to exercise.

Jesus is the example as to what it means to live humbly.  As Philippians 2:8-9 reminds us:

“He was known to be of human estate,

   and it was thus that he humbled himself,

  obediently accepting even death,

  death on the cross!

  Because of this,

  God highly exalted him

  and bestowed on him the name

  above every other name,

  So that at Jesus’ name

  every knee must bend.”

        Jesus always had the humility to turn to his Father and say, “Help me.”  Because of this he had the ability to surrender himself for our sakes.  And for this reason, we call him Lord.

Reflection Questions:

When was the last time I asked for help?  How did I feel?

Do I fear growing old?  What am I the most concerned about?

Dear Parishioners,

      We have had significant growth in our Religious Education program this year.  We have well over a hundred students.  What is especially heartening is that we have a good number of students seeking the sacraments of initiation. 

      This is a blessing as well as a challenge.  We cannot simply place these youngsters into our classes.  We must try and catch them up to their grade level.  They meet for a special class during the week and then they meet again on Sunday.  We have a group of grade school students, and we also have young people who are in high school. 

      Debbie Patronagio, our director of religious education, tries to help as many students as possible.  All of this requires a lot of tutoring.  The goal of the diocese is to make disciples.  We are doing that here at Sacred Heart in very concrete ways.  Please pray for all our students and teachers.  The primary way we make disciples is by mentoring the young.  Seton School, Alleman and our religious education program are doing that well.

         May our Lady of Peace pray for our world,

         Fr. Mark

P.S. Please congratulate Fr. Matthew when you see him.  He just became a United States Citizen.