29th Sunday in Ordinary Time [C]
October 16, 2022
Luke 18:1-9

Jesus gives us a powerful lesson through his parable of a persevering widow and the wicked judge. Initially the judge had no interest whatsoever to the request of the widow, since widow was one of the weakest and poorest groups in ancient societies. Yet, the widow was extremely persistent and would not stop until her request for justice was rendered. The judge eventually gave in and granted the plea.

Jesus once again employed the teaching technique of His time, “Kal V’homer” (literally, light and heavy). Simply put, this method compares and contrasts two things. What applies in a less important case will certainly apply in a more important one. Thus, Jesus taught that if the terrible judge can eventually do good because of the widow’s perseverance, the more God will do infinitely good for those who hope and approach Him.

In this reflection, we will not only explore the ‘why’ we need to pray persistently, but also, on ‘how’ we can persevere in prayer. Surprisingly, the answer can be found in our first reading. The Church gives us the story of the Israelites battling the Amalekites (Exo 17:8-13). Amalek was an ancient nomadic tribe living in Sinai region in time of Exodus, and as Israelites passed their area, Amalek decided to wage war. As an act of self-defense, Moses sent Joshua and his men to battle the Amalek, and to ensure the victory, Moses would pray and intercede for them. As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel had the better of the fight, but when he let his hands rest, Amalek had the better of the fight. However, the battle lasted the whole day, and naturally Moses grew tired. Thus, to sustain his prayers, his companions, Aaron and Hur, decided to support his hands until the victory was achieved.

From here, we discover that when our prayer seems unanswered, it does not mean there is nothing at all. Like the Isreal had the upper hand, when Moses prayed, though it was still far from the victory, so also something good is happening when we keep praying, though we do not see the result yet. St. Augustine once wrote to Proba, “[He] wants us rather to exercise our desire through our prayers, so that we may be able to receive what He is preparing to give us. His gift is very great indeed, but our capacity is too small and limited to receive it.”

Then, how will we persevere in prayers? As Aaron and Hur supported Moses in his prayer, often we also need a support system or a community. This wisdom is coming from our human nature, as social being. Thus, Jesus calls us not only as individual, but also Church, an community of believers. Since the beginning, we pray and worship as one community, and this is one of the reasons why the Church continues to grow despite so many persecutions. Surely, we can pray alone, but as we get tired and see no result, good companions in prayers will make things bearable. A man has a sacred duty to lead his family in daily prayer, and the task can be burdensome, but if his wife encourages and accompanies him, the holy obligation can be source of joy.

Rome
Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

28th Sunday in Ordinary Time [C]
October 9, 2022
Luke 17:11-19

Who is this one leper that returned to Jesus to give thanks after he knew that he was healed? We never know the answer because like many other characters in the Bible, this person is nameless. The only information we had is that he was a Samaritan leper. What does it mean to be a Samaritan as well as a leper in time of Jesus? And why did he went back to Jews, while the other nine did not?

We have to remember that Jesus instructed to the lepers to go the Jewish priests. Why to a priest? According to the Law of Moses, the priest has the authority to declare someone clean from leper and allow them to return to the community [See Lev 13]. As the lepers went to see a priest, they were miraculously healed. One of them, a Samaritan, immediately returned to Jesus and as he put his face to the ground, he thanked Jesus. Why only one Samaritan? Precisely because he is a Samaritan. As a Samaritan, he has no obligation to see a Jewish priest, while the other nine, eager to be reintegrated into their families and community, sought the priest first. Yet, there is one deeper truth that we must not miss: this Samaritan bended his knees before Jesus, a Jewish man.

Simply put, Samaritans and Jews were bitter enemies. Though Samaritans and the Jews worshiped the same God of Israel, yet they truly hated each other. Each claimed to be the true Israel, while denounced the other as heretics. Despite having one God, they refused to share the common place of worship, let alone the common place to stay. Since the kingdom of David was torn into two, the Jewish and Samaritan have shared the bloody histories of enmity and violence. The Samaritan dan the Jewish have become the reflections of humanity’s dark side: how people can hate each other and do harm to others because of racial, economic, religious and ideological differences.

By healing both the Jews and the Samaritan, Jesus shows Himself not only as the Saviour of the Jews, but to those who seek Him and have faith in Him. Surely, the nine lepers have faith in Jesus. Yet, greater faith is needed for the Samaritan leper to kneel and admit that his Saviour is a Jewish man. With profound humility comes the great faith. True humility enables him to seek God first, rather than his personal needs and biases, the Healer first, rather the healings. This humility empowers him to set aside all his hatred and prejudices, and bow before Jesus, a Jewish man. While faith may have cured physical disease, humility heals the spiritual leprosy.

The Samaritan leper becomes a point of reflection for all of us. Do we come to the Church because primarily we look for the healing or solutions to our problems, or we seek God? Do we worship Jesus because we feel good and happy about it, or because we do justice to God? What is lacking in us is often not faith, but humility. The humility to see that everything is from God, the humility to put God first before our needs, the humility to make things move according to His plan, not our designs.

Roma
Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time [C]
October 2, 2022
Luke 17:5-10

Jesus says if we have faith as big as mustard seed, we will be able to command a mulberry tree to be uprooted and be replanted in the sea. What does it really mean? When fully grown, mulberry tree is a huge plant with sturdy trunk and limbs, as well as a spreading and deep roots. To uproot is extremely difficult, if not impossible. Yet, Jesus’ words are not only uprooting the tree, but replanting it, not in other fertile soil, but at the ocean! Thus, simply put, to have faith, even a small one, enable us to do the impossible. What are the impossible things that now become possible because of faith?

Nowadays, there is a growing trend to understand faith as an immediate problem solver. Thus, to have to faith means that we will be healed from our grave illness and our problems will be immediately solved. To have faith means we are going to pass our financial crisis. Then, the logic is that if we are still sick or struggling with the same problems, we are lacking faith, or even have no faith all together.

I remember a story of a sick man who sought help of a religious leader. The leader prophesied that the man would be healed of his illness in the following week. Yet, after one week passed, the expected healing did not come. Then, the man complained to the leader that he remained sick. The leader immediately countered, “you lack faith! Have more faith, and you will be healed!”

This kind concept of faith is incomplete and even dangerous. Faith is heavily equated with personal desire and emotional conviction. The greater the conviction we feel and exert, the greater the faith, and the greater the faith, the greater the possibility we get what we want. This is dangerous in several ways. Firstly, this kind of faith is now about us, humans, and what we desire, and not about God and His plan for us. Secondly, this kind of faith makes us proud when we get what we want, but we blame ourselves if we do not achieve it. Too much blaming either makes us depressed or abandon God altogether. Thirdly, for some irresponsible ‘religious leaders’, this kind of faith may become a tool of manipulation and means to increase richness and popularity.

Though emotional conviction is important part of faith, but true faith goes beyond that. Faith includes intellectual quest for the Truth. Faith is also commitment to do God’s will and laws. Faith also means to trust in God’s presence in times we do not emotionally encounter Him. Faith allows us to believe in God’s providence even though we are struggling with various problems.

Going back to our initial question: What are the impossible things that now become possible because of faith? Indeed, God often does miracles of healing in our lives, yet God’s plan for us is even greater: spiritual healing from sins. Truly, Jesus can calm the storms, yet His mission is “to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many [Mar 10:45].” Yes, God can bring back dead people to life, but God’s real will is that we resurrect into eternal life.

Roma
Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP

26th Sunday in Ordinary Time [C]
September 25, 2022
Luke 16:19-31

One of the main characters of Luke is that he tends to be ‘pro-poor’ and harsh towards the rich. This can be easily seen in the various teachings and parables of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. One of the highlights is the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. Yes, this rich man ended up in a bad place. Now, the question is, “Why was Luke so hard on the rich? Did Luke hate people who have great wealth?”

Let’s take a closer look at today’s parable. Poor Lazarus went to restful place with Abraham, while the rich man went to the place of torment. Yes, the rich man is the villain, and there is no other place for him, but a place of punishment. Certainly, this rich man was punished not because he had enormous wealth, or that he did anything evil. Even though he had great wealth, wore extravagant purple garment, and partied every day, he didn’t lift any finger to help suffering Lazarus. He was in a place of torture because he refused to help his fellow man. The core lesson is that it is not enough to avoid doing evil to others, but we also need to do good to others.

Even more interesting is if we look at the bigger picture of Luke’s Gospel. At first, Luke dedicated his gospel to Theophilus. Who is this Theophilus? We are not entirely sure, but one interesting theory is that Theophilus was a rich man who supported Luke. At that time, production of a book required enormous resources. Papyrus and parchment alone were rare and expensive, not to mention other expenses. Luke may not have been able to fulfill his gospel writing assignment due to a lack of resources, but Theophilus then came to the rescue, so that we now have the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.

However, despite the tremendous help of Theophilus, the rich guy, Luke did not make his Gospel to please Theophilus. Luke did not write the parable of the rich man going to heaven, or teach, “Blessed are the materially rich, for they will become richer.” Luke still wrote what had to be written, the parable of the rich man who went to the place of fire. The question remains: Why was Luke so bold?

The first reason is that Luke did convey the authentic teaching of Jesus, and for that reason, he could not change it to please some people. However, the second reason is that Luke wanted to wisely point out that Theophilus is the opposite of the rich man in the parable. Unlike a rich man who kept his great fortune to himself and ended up losing everything, Theophilus freely and generously shared his wealth to support the writing of the gospel, and ultimately, he got the most important thing in his life, Jesus Christ.

Through these parables and other teachings of Jesus, Luke constantly reminds us of the dangers and (also function) of worldly riches. Wealth is always a means, and not an end in itself. Failure to see this can endanger our souls. However, when wealth is seen as both a blessing and a means to do good, it can help us grow in holiness. We must learn from the rich man in the parable as well as from Theophilus.

Rome
Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP