The Rambler

30TH SUNDAY, ORDINARY TIME [C] Suppose for a moment that you are a golfer. Golfing means teeing off but never being completely satisfied with your result. You’re always looking for more distance. It’s never about less; it’s always about more. The industry understands this. They know that you are always searching for some kind of an additional edge. This would explain the arrival of “Big Bertha” back during the early 1990’s. Produced by Callaway, the Big Bertha represented something new, with its steel shaft and its oversized titanium head. From a promotional standpoint, the message was clear: use our club if you want superior distance.  Not long afterwards, the people at Titleist would follow up with their own message: if you want superior distance, use our newly developed golf ball—the ProV1. As was the case with Big Bertha, the ProV1 reflected a new approach: the highly concentrated core generating optimal distance, and the dimpled urethane outer coating enabling optimal spin....

  29TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME [C] We’ll begin by referencing a movie from the year 1944, The Uninvited . It has to do with a house that comes under new ownership. The new owners soon discover that the house is haunted. This naturally represents a source of distress for them: literally, an “ uninvited ” source of distress. How do they respond? Well, they don’t respond by running away. Their dog runs away. Their housekeeper runs away. But the owners decide that they need to see the situation through. It’s not a pleasant experience, being confronted by a ghost. Nevertheless, they feel as if they don’t have a choice.  How does this apply to the Sunday readings? We’ll direct our primary focus upon the question posed by Jesus in Luke chapter eighteen. Does anybody have the nerve to answer his question? Apparently, no. Subsequently, the question hangs there, unanswered. Think of it as “hovering,” just as a ghost might hover. It’s a question that hovers—and it also has the capacity t...

  28TH SUNDAY, ORDINARY TIME [C] As you reflect upon the readings this weekend, you may find yourself wondering about the Israelites: Do they deserve all of this special attention? Do they deserve to be saved? The inclination is to answer in the negative. After all, here they are, being out-performed by those  who would rate as “foreigners.”  Naaman exemplifies the notion of gratitude and also the notion of piety (see 2nd Kings 5:1-17). And yet, he’s not an Israelite; he’s a general in the Syrian army. Then we see what takes place in this passage from St. Luke: ten lepers have been cured, but only one comes back to express gratitude—and he happens to be a Samaritan (17:11-19).  It leaves you to wonder about the Israelite population. Perhaps there ought to be a shift. Rather than concentrate on the Israelites, the Lord might want to focus instead upon the people who really deserve to be saved. But then again, does anybody actually deserve to be saved? As far as St. P...

  27TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME [C] Do you ever catch yourself complaining against the Lord? If so, don’t feel alone. It happens. It even happens within the pages of Sacred Scripture. This weekend we get to listen in as the prophet Habakkuk complains against the Lord. It’s a desperate situation, as far as the prophet is concerned. He wants to know how long this will be allowed to go on (1:2)? It’s being suggested that the Lord is taking his dear sweet time. Can you hurry it up?  We actually encounter an additional complaint in Luke chapter seventeen. It could be described as a “veiled” complaint—or a kind of implication. When the disciples ask for an increase of faith, the implication is that they have been shortchanged. You’ve blessed us with faith, but the portions are too small. We need more than what you have provided . That’s what we can say about complaint number two. You’re doing something, but you’re not doing enough.  Meanwhile, complaint number one has to do prim...

  26TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME [C] It goes from bad to worse for the Rich Man. Not only is he stranded in the netherworld, he subsequently hears that his family members are on a trajectory to follow him. As Abraham points out: If your brothers have been tuning out Moses and the prophets, then it stands to reason that they will remain tuned out, even in the event that someone should be brought back from the dead (Luke 16:31). In other words, the pattern of resistance has been reinforced so thoroughly that now it serves as a type of “default” setting. They don’t know how to do anything else. For that matter, they don’t know how to be anything else. The clay has solidified.  By way of illustration, consider Lucy’s method of tormenting Charlie Brown. She offers to steady the football so that he can kick it. He gets an impressive running start. However, she pulls the ball away at the last possible second. He’s kicking nothing but air. His feet go out from under him, and he lands ...

  25TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME [C] Clearly, the God of the Bible is a God who pays attention. He knows when we are trending in a positive direction, and he likewise knows when we are trending in a negative direction. For example, he can recognize that the Israelites have been cutting corners. Their practice of worship can be described as sub-standard. This explains the arrival of Amos, a prophet who is in the process of calling them out  (Amos 8:4-7). Conversely, we hear words of affirmation being spoken in the Gospel of Luke. A steward who was producing absolutely nothing is now producing at least something. No, he’s not producing everything that he was originally called upon to produce. But he’s producing something (16:1-8).  The steward is trending in a positive direction. As for the Israelites, they are trending in a negative direction. In both cases, the Lord is looking on, very closely. He’s that type of a Lord. He pays attention. He monitors our trends and our pat...

  THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS You’re staring at the television, and what do you see? You see an ominous black vehicle speeding down the lane. It’s now turning, entering into a dark alley. This alley has the appearance of being a dead-end. The car is rushing straight toward a brick wall. You’re expecting a crash. However, something else happens instead. The brick wall opens up; it’s not a dead-end. It looks like a dead-end. But it’s being revealed as a passageway.  What you’ve just witnessed is the aftermath of a Green Hornet action scene. The Green Hornet and his side-kick Kato are crime-fighters (popular on radio in the 1940’s and on television in the late 1960’s). When they learn about criminal activity, they respond, they neutralize the threat, and then they report back to the Green Hornet lair. The alleyway, with its retracting wall, serves as a secret entry and exit point.  How does this relate to the symbol of the cross? Think of it this way: the cross and the alleyway...