Friday of Week 24 of Ordinary Time – Gospel

Commentary on Luke 8:1-3

This passage follows immediately from yesterday’s about the sinful woman in the house of Simon the Pharisee. It is one of those summary passages describing in general terms the work of Jesus.

He is accompanied by the chosen Twelve, his cooperators in the preaching of the Word and the establishing of the Kingdom. And it is precisely the Good News (the Gospel) about the Kingdom that they are preaching in word and demonstrating in practice.

What is noteworthy here—and it is unique to Luke—is the mention of many women also travelling in the company of Jesus. Some of them were women who had been healed of evil spirits. One is mentioned by name:

Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out…

The number seven is not to be taken literally, but indicates she had formerly been in a seriously immoral state. Mary of Magdala appears very prominently in John’s Gospel as someone very close to Jesus and he describes her as the first witness of the Resurrection. It is possible, too, that the “sinful woman” in the house of Simon the Pharisee was also in the group.

Some of the other women seem to be of more ample means and higher social rank. One of them was Joanna, the wife of King Herod’s steward. They helped Jesus and his disciples with their material needs. Once again, Jesus is not embarrassed to travel in the company of these women; nor are they uncomfortable in his.

We see here two roles being played by followers of Jesus. On the one hand are the Apostles whose function it is to proclaim the gospel and establish the Kingdom by word and deed, by preaching and by the example of the communal and shared life they are leading.

The other role is that of Jesus’ disciples, who are materially better off and who support the work of proclaiming the gospel by providing for the material and other needs of the evangelisers. Both roles are complementary and both, taken together, form the evangelising work of the Church.

A good example in our time are the Sisters of St Teresa of Calcutta (Missionaries of Charity), who would never be able to take care of the destitute dying without the generous help of many benefactors. And the same statement applies for many other voluntary groups involved in looking after the disadvantaged.

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Friday of Week 24 of Ordinary Time – First Reading

Commentary on 1 Timothy 6:2-12

We come now to the last chapter of this letter. Having told Timothy what he should concentrate on in his teaching, Paul warns him against those who do not follow the “sound words” of Jesus, i.e. teachings which are in accordance with true religion. Paul says that such people are “conceited, understanding nothing”. They have a weakness for questioning everything and love to argue about words. They have an obsession with polemics and controversy for its own sake.

We still meet such people in our Church today. They do absolutely nothing to help the cause of Christ and the building of the Kingdom. As Paul says, they simply create:

…envy, dissension, slander, base suspicions, and wrangling among those who are depraved in mind and bereft of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

They claim to be the sole possessors of the truth and can even find fault with the Pope’s orthodoxy, as well as certainly believing that the Second Vatican Council and its developments are anathema.

The only result of this kind of behaviour is jealousy, incessant arguing, verbal abuse and a deep sense of mistrust. It ends up in unending disputes by people with depraved minds and deprived of the truth, who even see religion as a means of personal gain. They did receive the true message, but have wandered far from it. They also regard Paul’s teaching with contempt because he does not ask for money. There are still quite a number of people around who see religion as a good way to make money. What kind of religion it is—well, that’s another question.

Paul says that religion does bring large profits but, paradoxically, only to those who are satisfied with what they have:

Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment…

In other words the profits in question touch the growth of the interior person and not their material advancement. The really rich are those whose needs are the least in the areas of possessions, power and status.

This leads Paul to recommend living our lives with just what we basically need. As he says:

…for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it, but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.

As they say, you can’t take it with you. And even the having of it in this life can be a source of endless anxiety.

Those who hanker after material wealth are prey to all kinds of problems; they get trapped into all sorts of foolish and harmful ambitions, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. Paul then quotes a contemporary proverb:

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil…

Who are the really rich? One thinks of St Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa) or Paul himself and many other saints and holy men and women of all religions. And, of course, of Jesus himself, who just had the clothes on his back and “nowhere to lay his head”. None of these people were poor in the sense of being deprived. They had everything they needed and much more.

There is no doubt that a great deal of the world’s problems and its miseries arise out of material greed, or out of the determination to hold on to wealth, power and prestige. Most of the world’s international tensions arise from this, causing endless misery to millions. Some call it ‘national security’, but it really concerns the security of the ‘haves’, not to mention the ‘have lots‘.

Even some Christians, Paul says, have abandoned the Way of the Gospel because of their desires for wealth, power and status as:

…in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

But as someone called by God to special service, Timothy is urged to keep away from all this. Instead he is to aim to:

…pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.

Paul also tells him to:

Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

When did Timothy make this “good confession” of faith? Perhaps he did so at his baptism or when hands were laid on him for his ministry.

What Paul urges for Timothy are the really precious things, and they are the things which really enrich our lives and the lives of others as well. They are ‘other-centred’, while greed and acquisitiveness are aimed only at oneself. Even some kinds of religions can be seen as primarily for the self. Paul is urging Timothy to keep the long view concerning:

…the eternal life to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

In other words, to hold to that to which he committed himself.

It is for us today to look at our own lives. Does our following of Christ lead us to the qualities mentioned above or does it make us belligerent and divisive? Or are we trying to combine the best of both worlds, trying to be Christians and people of the world at the same time? Are we trying to put a coating of religion on a life that is really no different from what most of the world is living? What does our lifestyle say about us? What message does it convey to others?

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