Breaking Open the Word - 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – October 18th, 2020

We began our Scripture sharing this Sunday by discussing the First Reading’s powerful prophecy to the pagan king Cyrus. As one Sister pointed out, this passage gives the Old Testament background for one of the core principles of Passionist spirituality: God can and does make use of everything and everyone in accomplishing His loving Will! St. Paul of the Cross often exhorted his spiritual directees to “take everything directly from the hands of a loving God.” Even in adverse circumstances, He is working for our good! His providential power truly guides all things, as He assures Cyrus in today’s reading: “[your] right hand I grasp.” The right hand is the symbol of power and authority, and by this statement the Lord is both proclaiming His intent to empower Cyrus and reminding the king that God is still the higher authority. While not infringing on the freedom of His creatures, He mysteriously guides all of history according to His plan.

King David Playing the Harp by Gerard van Honthorst

The same thing is true of each of our lives – the Lord is present and guiding us even when we are not aware of it. How often do we make a seemingly random decision, only to find that it was exactly the right thing to do? How often does a “chance” meeting turn out to have huge impact on our lives and those of others? In God’s plan, there is no such thing as coincidence, and it is His gentle yet all-powerful hand that orders all things – even trials and sufferings – perfectly. Of course, His work is even more beautiful and clear in the lives of those who are truly docile to His Spirit. St. Elizabeth of the Trinity loved the image of a lyre under the touch of God – the more we let go of our worries and choose to live in God’s presence in the present moment, the more “in tune” our “strings” are. Thus, the soul of a saint can be seen as an instrument that vibrates with heavenly music at even the lightest breath of the Spirit.

We also discussed the Second Reading, the joyful opening of St. Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. Specifically, we focused in on the final verse: “For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.” One Sister shared her reflections on how this line can apply to each of our lives, to the moment of our personal conversion/spiritual awakening/coming to know the Lord on a deeper level. “Words” may play a part, but there is also an unmistakable resonance in our heart, a “conviction” that can only come from the Spirit’s action. The soul sometimes just knows truth when it meets it! This passage can also be a consolation to us when we engage in sharing our faith. Often we worry about “saying the right thing,” and we sometimes think that our success depends entirely on us. Not the case, says St. Paul, and many heroic missionaries (himself included!) have gone forth with great confidence in the Spirit’s power to make use of their weak human efforts. Today we are called to the same kind of fearlessness in the New Evangelization – we can speak the truth lovingly and boldly with the assurance that, as long as we are faithful to the Gospel, the Holy Spirit can and will do His amazing work.

We also shared some of our reflections on the Gospel. Several of us expressed amusement at the way Jesus completely turns the situation upside down and leaves the Pharisees and Herodians gaping in wonder. After all, they think they have Him cornered with their impossible question – but He is thinking on a totally different level! The same thing can often happen with us. We undergo struggles and complain to the Lord, “how on earth can You get this to work out right?” But very often, when His divine “solution” does come, we are amazed at how His higher wisdom was able to overcome our narrow view! Indeed, He calls us to share in that same wisdom, and the more time we spend with Him in prayer and spiritual reading, the better we become at seeing the world as He does.

Finally, one Sister posed a question: we “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s” by paying our taxes and doing our civic duty, but how do we “render unto God what is God’s” – that is, our own souls? The answer is that doing this is never a one-time event. We must continually renew our self-offering, as the Mass daily renews the one Sacrifice of Calvary. As religious, we gave ourselves entirely to God on the day of our religious profession, but because we are free beings, we must constantly remind ourselves of this truth and re-commit to it – as must every baptized Christian, with the vows of their Baptism!