Sunday Intercessions ~ Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

The people of the Philippines and other nations are suffering terribly from a recent typhoon./ We ask for their comforting/ and a blessing for those involved in rescue and recovery efforts./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for a more just and peaceful world/ asking for leaders who will work for reconciliation/ boldly asking for our world to be freed of wars/ and all that threatens the life,/ freedom,/ and dignity of human persons./ We pray to the Lord.

We entrust our families and friends to God's care/ especially as the holidays draw near./ We hold them where there is loss of faith,/ illness,/ division,/ addiction,/ marital or financial trouble./ We pray to the Lord.

There is the sad reality of homelessness seemingly everywhere./ We ask for a world of new priorities,/ where no one is left without shelter and some comfort./ We pray to the Lord.

In the dark time of the year we pray for those who live dreary inner lives:/ without hope,/ joy,/ friendship or emotional balance./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray for ourselves and those who worship with us this weekend./ We ask blessings for each person with whom we will have contact this coming week/ and for mindfulness in our relationships./ We pray to the Lord.

Finally, we pray for those who have died/ asking for them the forgiveness we all desire,/ and to be sharers of Christ's bright Resurrection-life./ We pray to the Lord.

The Priggish Pharisee

A PHARISEE WAS A MEMBER OF an ancient Jewish group which taught a rather strict or narrow observance of Jewish traditions. They believed in life after death and looked for the coming of the Messiah. When we read the Gospels we notice that Jesus frequently found himself opposed by Pharisees.

In this Gospel account (Luke 18: 9-14) Jesus tells us about a Pharisee who was so pleased with himself and his religious observances. He stood in the front of the great temple in Jerusalem and reminded God of all the holy things he'd been doing lately: "I fast two days in the week; I pay tithes on everything I get."

He even thanked God that he wasn't like other people: "O God, I thank you that I am not like other men, greedy, dishonest, adulterous, or like that tax-collector." The tax man was standing behind him with his eyes down, telling God how sorry he was that he was a sinner.

The Pharisee saw the world and people in black and white. Like the picture here: You're right if you agree with me. You're wrong if you disagree with me. There are lots of people like this in the world. When religious people call themselves orthodox, which means right teaching, it means everyone else is heterodox, which of course means wrong teaching. This is how wars start.

I was very interested recently in a religious blog that offered a course called Catholic Bible 101. But I quickly discovered that the blog used the scriptures as a weapon, a tool for arguing, a kind of club to defend Church dogmas and the acceptable sexual morality. Where are the blogs that simply invite people into the mystery of Jesus, the joy of Jesus, the beauty of Jesus, the poetry of Jesus and even the fun of Jesus and his household.

A prig is a person who adheres smugly or unthinkingly to rigid standards of propriety or morality. Prigs are often religious people - like this arrogant man in the front of the temple. In fact, this Pharisee-man has a bad case of priggery. He doesn't love God, but only the idea of himself as pleasing to God. He thinks so highly of himself he has placed everyone in categories and thinks of the tax collector as the lowest of the low. 

Jesus doesn't' allow priggery. He tells us the story so we'll see ourselves and cut it out. No one is exempt. Pope Francis speaks about this a lot. He's told the Cardinals to "Stop acting like princes." He told the priests to get out of the sanctuary and to be with the people - closely. This Jesus story is an invitation to very practical gospel living.

We might remember this the next time we find ourselves making assessments about other people and how their families are formed. We might remember this the next time we're in one of the stores where a special needs person gives us our wagon or when we're tempted to just leave that empty supermarket wagon anywhere in the parking lot, thinking, "What's the big deal, it's someone's job to collect them anyway."

Among November's Saints

SAINT MARTIN DE PORRES was born in 1579 and raised poverty-stricken in Lima, Peru. At the age of fifteen he desired to become a Dominican Friar, but at that time persons of mixed race were not allowed to enter religious life. Martin, desiring to get as close to religious life as he could, became a lay-helper (a volunteer), asking only to be given a broom so he could sweep the cloister walkway.

The community was so impressed by his kind charity and humble willingness that they gave him the white and black habit and allowed him to make the traditional vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. At a particularly poor time for the friary, Martin offered himself to be sold as a slave so the bills could be paid. "You're not for sale," the superior said.

It is said that animals, which were natural enemies (cats, dogs, mice) would eat and drink from the same dish in his company causing him to be recognized as a patron of reconciliation and the healing of relationships. He opened a home for the homeless-sick and stray animals in his sister's house. She should be canonized a saint too!

Martin was known to sneak the sick and the weak into the friary, placing them in his own bed. He was apprenticed as a barber, which enabled him to practice some primitive medicine. His skills as an herbalist, which he learned from his mother and grandmother, enabled him to offer relief to the sick.

As his ministrations to the sick extended beyond questions of race and social status, Martin is the patron of those who seek to build and enhance race relationships. He was canonized a saint by Blessed John XXIII in May of 1962, a time of great social pain in our own country.

This sensitive and fine bronze statue of Saint Martin de Porres is found in the Dominican Father's Church of Saint Vincent Ferrer ~ 869 Lexington Avenue, New York City, at 66th Street. It is the work of Father Thomas McGlynn, O.P. (1962). Entering this church on a sunny day is like stepping into a kaleidoscope. The statue, which draws one immediately into serenity and prayer, is placed through the iron gates of a little side chapel on the left. When I am in New York City and even remotely in the area, I make a point of visiting this place.

In the image Martin has paused in his sweeping. His  broom rests against his side as he presses a cross to his heart. He isn't troubled by the rats at his feet. Indeed, he has likely just fed them.

A Poem-Prayer to Saint Martin de Porres 
in the style of an Eastern Troparion

When you passed through death to life
all of Lima turned out
to celebrate your memory,
O Brother Martin.

From the deep well of your
vulnerable heart,
no living thing escaped your love:

the leper ~ your bed,
the animals ~ your dish,
the sick ~ your healing herbs,
the orphan ~ your bread,
the slave ~ your word,
the dying ~ your restorative glass of water.

O holy donado, pray to Christ-God
for the softening of hearts
throughout the Americas.


(donado = volunteer)
Martin's Feast Day is November 3.