Spiritus Sanctus

Wednesday of Week 9 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
Tobit 3:1-11,16-17 | Psalm 24(25):2-9 | Mark 12:18-27

‘so now, do with me as you will’ (Tobit 3:6)

How often do we let God have His way in our lives?

When we run up against obstacles on our journey, how often do we surrender ourselves to Him and ask Him for His guidance?

Tobit and Sarah show us two different yet distressingly familiar perspectives in dealing with unbearable circumstances. Both ask God to take their lives, weary of their affliction.

The younger Sarah, though, first contemplates going her own way, and taking her own life. Too many youths today also think of it as a quick and easy way to end their pain. She pulls back from the brink after realizing how her death would only prolong the suffering of her loved ones; I hope and pray that more of her modern contemporaries will do the same.

Tobit, long in years, leaves it in the hands of God, recognizing that his life is His to dispose of as He wills it. Jesus later teaches his disciples, and us through scripture, to believe the same:

Our Father in heaven, may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven (Matthew 6:9-10)

and He practised what He preached, during His darkest hour at Gethsemane:

And going on a little further he fell on his face and prayed. ‘My Father,’ he said ‘if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it.’ (Matthew 26:39)

In these troubled times, it’s even more important to surrender to the will of God, that He may show us the road of salvation that He’s already mapped out for us. As today’s psalm reminds us:

Good and upright is the Lord
He shows us the way
He guides the meek to justice,
He teaches the humble to follow His ways

To You, O Lord, I lift up
I lift up my soul, my God

Amen.

Tuesday of Week 9 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
Tobit 2:9-14 | Psalm 111(112):1-2,7-9 | Mark 12:13-17

‘What about your own alms? What about your own good works? Everyone knows what return you have had for them.’ (Tobit 2:14)

Tomorrow, two people I know will make their final journey here on earth. Both are mothers:

one contracted an infection while in hospital for an unrelated procedure, and quickly succumbed to the twin ravages of old age and pneumonia,

but the other leaves behind three teenage sons and a grieving father, struggling to cope with the loss of his beloved after a long illness, and now having to raise one special-needs almost-adult by himself.

Anna’s rebuke of her husband certainly stung Tobit, probably more than the bird droppings that blinded him. It’s hard not to connect this to my friend’s sufferings; after many years of serving God faithfully, he’s now in such a difficult position.

I’m sure many former Catholics have left the faith for the same reason. “What kind of God is this, who rewards my loyalty with pain and suffering?!?!”

I think an answer lies in today’s Gospel, when Jesus reminds us to:

‘Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar – and to God what belongs to God.’ (Mark 12:17)

So what exactly belongs to God? In a nutshell: Love, faithfulness, and praise.

That’s pretty much all He’s ever asked of us, but we have problems giving Him even that little, when we unconsciously give priority to our worldly cares.

This world wants us to be materially rich, to accumulate more belongings than we know what to do with, all the better to assert our superiority over others.

This world wants us to achieve our riches through deliberate quashing of our rivals, competitors in a zero-sum game that defies the logic of cooperative love.

This world wants us to be self-centered.

Yet I believe Jesus is telling us: Why not give back to the world what belongs to the world?

Why not give back the temptation to pursue personal gain at the expense of others?

Why not give back the lust for possessions for which we have no need?

Why not give back the “me against the world” attitude?

And what would we give back to God then, in the person of our brothers and sisters?

Why not give back the love He so freely gave us, lending our resources, our time, and our talents to those who need help?

Why not give back the faithfulness He demonstrated to us through the Passion of His only Son, by going just a little out of our way to befriend the lost in spirit, drawing them back into community both during Sunday Eucharist and the weekdays in between?

Why not give back the praise He’s due, making an effort to open our hearts during worship at mass, letting go of all our reluctance and clock-watching, just to look at the Body and Blood of Christ and truly see Him therein?

Tobit was a good man who suffered a lot, but he also stayed the course of faithfulness and love despite his temporal suffering. We can but follow his example, and the example of all the faithful whose deeds are records in holy scripture.

Amen.

Monday of Week 9 in Ordinary Time (Year I)
Tobit 1:3,2:1-8 | Psalm 111(112):1-2,3b-6 | Mark 12:1-12
Saint Boniface, Bishop, Martyr
Acts 26:19-23 | Psalm 116(117):1-2 | John 10:11-16

At our feast of Pentecost (the feast of Weeks) there was a good dinner. I took my place for the meal; the table was brought to me and various dishes were brought. Then I said to my son Tobias, ‘Go, my child, and seek out some poor, loyal-hearted man among our brothers exiled in Nineveh, and bring him to share my meal. I will wait until you come back, my child.’ (Tobit 2:1-2)

Hospitality figures prominently in Holy Scripture. The most obvious example is that of the Good Samaritan, but Tobit too is worthy of emulation.

Banished from Nineveh for daring to bury his countrymen who were slain by the previous king, he’d only just been reunited with his wife, his son, and his riches. Yet, in his happiness, he thought to share his joy with the less fortunate.

Can we be even half as generous as Tobit?

Are we even willing to part with an insignificant fraction of our wealth and time, to be two-bit Tobits?

Imagine what an army of two-bit Tobits could accomplish, to ease the suffering and pain of those around us.

What’s stopping us?

Perhaps it’s, as Archbishop mentioned in his exhortation yesterday, our lack of community spirit, a distressing development for Catholics steeped in the words of love.

Or perhaps we immerse ourselves so thoroughly in our daily activities, that we fail to notice the poor and disadvantaged in our midst?

Surely we can do better.

✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞

In another sad nod to Tobit, let us pray for the families in London who will be burying their loved ones soon, lost to the irrational hatred that corrupted faith visits upon us all.

Lord, You are author of Life and Love, not of destruction and hatred. Help us see others around us as worthy of Love, even those who do not acknowledge You. Help us stand firm against those who would corrupt and convince others that there is an unbridgeable gulf between “faithful” and “heathen”. Show us the way to conversion of hardened hearts through Love, that all mankind may one day understand and appreciate Your boundless Mercy. Amen.