Word to the Wise
Friday, December 13, 2013 - 2nd Week of Advent - Fri
[Isa 48:17-19 and Matt 11:16-19]To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, 'We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.' For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, 'He is possessed by a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, 'Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' But wisdom is vindicated by her works.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2013 ST. LUCY virgin and martyr
Yesterday, TIME Magazine named Pope Francis as their "Person of the Year!" Although he is not the first pope to share that honor (Popes John XXIII and John Paul II have also made it to that cover), he seems to fit Jesus' self-description in today's gospel passage more than the others. He has made it clear that he welcomes "tax collectors and sinners," and is being roundly criticized for it - either because he hasn't changed things enough or because he has changed anything at all! [Mind you, he was only elected last March!] His recent writings and interviews have attracted criticism from political commentators like Rush Limbaugh and others, who have accused him of Marxism and Socialism. (I studied both as a political science major and I don't think Mr. Limbaugh has any knowledge of either. The problems in the Vatican bank demonstrate that the Vatican itself suffers many of the evils of capitalism.) He has attracted criticism from certain critics who have "hot button" issues like priestly ordination for women, compulsory Latin-rite celibacy, same-sex marriage and birth control, and want all those items decided their way. Pope Francis continues to "welcome sinners and eat with them." [Luke 15:2] The "scribes and Pharisees" on all sides of every issue will continue to complain.
Ideology can be as big an obstacle to the gospel as any material possession. What Pope Francis is saying and doing challenges many social, political and theological ideologies just as Jesus challenged the entrenched social, political and theological powers of his own time. They just can't see that they too are among the "sinners and tax collectors" he is trying to welcome. AMEN