Fr. Paul Campbell’s article for Nov. 14 Thirty Third Sunday

Mal 3: 19-20a                        2 Thess 3: 7-12            Luke 21: 5-19

There has been a reoccurring theme in the Sunday readings for the last month.  The theme is that with Jesus in our lives good can come from bad.  We first heard of the dishonest servant who when faced with dismissal used his energy to reduce the debt others owed his master.  Another example of people who had done bad things producing good is the story of the dishonest judge who helps the widow gain justice in her case.  Another Sunday had Zacheus; the tax collector who oppressed his people and pocketed the money is shown responding to Jesus’ mercy and turning his life around.  In this Sunday’s readings Luke has Jesus reminding his followers of the bad times that are ahead.  He tells his followers that “nation will rise against nation” there will be “powerful earthquakes, famines and plagues from place to place”. Yet before this his followers will be persecuted because of their belief in him.  In line after line this passage paints a picture that is so bad it could be interpreted as discouraging. Combine these words of scripture with the words of a secular media whose national anthem is “Lions and Tigers and Bears” from the Wizard of Oz and we can easily lose that joyful hope that we celebrate at Easter.  So, how do we respond?  There are two ways.  We can spend some time reviewing the difficult moments of our lives.  Often when we look back upon those difficult moments we ask ourselves “How did I ever get through that?”  For followers of Jesus the answer is obvious.  You didn’t get through it, God carried you. If you can’t remember any times yourself take the time to listen to the stories of older people, especially the ones who use phrase like “Thank God, and “With the help of God” often.  As Jesus tells his disciples in Sunday’s reading “I myself” will take care of you.   The second way we can respond to the negativity and hardship that surrounds us is by being aware of our blessings.  Ignatius of Loyola tells us that we need to remember the consolations that God gives us in life.  They will help us to get through the difficult moments.  Unfortunately in our culture of entitlement we seem to forget our blessings too easily. Our memories are short and filled with a “What have you done for me lately?” attitude.  Francis de Sales encouraged his followers to live in the present moment and to see God’s hand in our lives each day like the ‘healing rays’ that the prophet Malachi speaks of in the first reading. Yet this simple task is difficult.  Our society encourages multitasking.  Multitasking allows us to do many jobs poorly rather than one job well.  The sad thing is when we multitask we are too distracted to feel Gods healing rays whether they are coming from the sun or the heart of another human being.  At the end of the day as I lie in bed I have a tendency to think of all the things that I didn’t get done that day and all I have to do the next.  I am trying to change that habit by naming ten blessings that God has given me during the day. This makes me aware of the fact that I don’t walk through this life by myself and that my God gives me what I need.  I don’t know whether the world was a safer place when all we had was fifteen minutes of local news followed by fifteen of world.  I do know that the same God who saved the Israelites and gave a bunch of fisherman words to teach the nations is still there and blessing all of us in the same way.