Signs of the Times

Chapter 67
LUKE 12:54—13:9
Having exhorted His disciples on the need to be watch­ful and prepared for death, Jesus now turned to the people and addressed them on the same theme:
"When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, 'A shower is coming,' and so it comes to pass. And when you see the south wind blow, you say, 'There will be a scorching heat,' and so it comes to pass. You hypocrites! you know how to judge the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that you do not judge this time? But why even of yourselves do you not judge what is right?
"And when thou art going with thy opponent to the ruler, take pains to be quit of him on the way, lest he deliver thee to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison. I say to thee, thou wilt not come out from it until thou hast paid the very last mite."
At this point someone brought word of some Galileans who had been massacred by Pilate in the temple. Jesus said:
"Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they have suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same manner. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower of Siloe fell and killed them; do you think that they were more guilty than all the other dwellers in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but un­less you repent, you will all perish in the same manner."
Then He told them this parable:
"A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit thereon, and found none. And he said to the vine-dresser, 'Behold, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down, therefore; why does it still encumber the ground?' But he an­swered and said to him, 'Sir, let it alone this year too, till I dig around it and manure it. Perhaps it may bear fruit; but if not, then afterwards thou shalt cut it down.' "
We also know how to read the face of the sky and the earth; but we often fail to read the signs of our times. The conflicts and ca­tastrophes of our day should lead us to pray and to sacrifice. At Fatima Mary appeared and called for prayer and penance. In my personal life is there more prayer and more penance because the times demand it? Or do I ignore the signs of the times?

Trust in Providence, Not in Riches

Chapter 66
Matt. 6:19-21, 25-34; 10:34-36; 24:43-51; LUKE 12:13-53
Someone in the crowd around Him said, "Master, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." But He said:
"Man, who has appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?"

This was a matter of law for the Jewish courts; there was no need for Him to intervene.
Turning to the people, He said:
"Take heed and guard yourselves from all covetousness, for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his pos­sessions."

And He told them this parable:
"The land of a certain rich man brought forth abundant crops. And he began to take thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, for I have no room to store my crops?' And he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones, and there I will store up all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, thou hast many good things laid up for many years; take thy ease, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'Thou fool, this night do they demand thy soul of thee; and the things that thou hast pro­vided, whose will they be?' So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich as regards God."
Then He repeated the admonitions He had given in the Ser­mon on the Mount in Galilee:
"Therefore I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. The life is a greater thing than the food, and the body than the clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storeroom nor barn; yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than they! But which of you by being anxious about it can add to his stature a single cubit? Therefore if you are not able to do even a very little thing, why are you anxious concerning the rest? See how the lilies grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I say to you that not even Solo­mon in all his glory was arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which today is alive in the field and tomor­row is thrown into the oven, how much more you, O you of little faith! And as for you, do not seek what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; and do not exalt yourselves (for after all these things the nations of the world seek); but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be given you besides. Do not be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms. Make for yourselves purses that do not grow old, a treasure unfail­ing in heaven, where neither thief draws near nor moth de­stroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart also will be.
"Let your loins be girt about and your lamps burning, and you yourselves like men waiting for their master's return from the wedding; so that when he comes and knocks, they may straightway open to him. Blessed are those servants whom the master, on his return, shall find watching. Amen I say to you, he will gird himself, and will make them recline at table, and will come and serve them. And if he comes in the second watch, and if in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those serv­ants! But of this be assured, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would certainly have watched, and not have let his house be broken into. You must also be ready, because at an hour that you do not expect, the Son of Man is coming."
Now Peter asked, "Lord, art Thou speaking this parable for us or for all alike?" And Jesus replied:
"Who, dost thou think, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will set over his household to give them their ration of grain in due time? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, shall find doing so. Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his goods.
"But if that servant says to himself, 'My master delays his coming,' and begins to beat the menservants and the maids, and to eat and drink, and to get drunk, the master of that serv­ant will come on a day he does not expect, and in an hour he does not know, and will cut him asunder and make him share the lot of the unfaithful. But that servant who knew his mas­ter's will, and did not make ready for him and did not act according to his will, will be beaten with many stripes. Where­as he who did not know it, but did things deserving of stripes, will be beaten with few. But of everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and of him to whom they have entrusted much, they will demand the more."
And now He spoke to them of His Passion and of the division which was to come about through Him, for His followers were to be cut off from their fellows and regarded as enemies even by their own families:
"I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and what will I but that it be kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!
"Do you think that I came to give peace upon the earth? No, I tell you, but division. For henceforth in one house five will be divided, three against two, and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against his father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be those of his own household."
Covetousness is an elusive vice. No matter how grasping we may be, it is possible to think of some justification for our attitude. For we are often obliged to provide for the present and future needs of ourselves and our families. But do we not frequently designate as "needs" our desire for more luxury, for a finer home, for better clothes, for a bigger car, for a more expensive vacation? Christ said a man's life does not consist in the "abundance of his posses­sions." How much of the thought and energy of my life is de­voted to my possessions?

Christ's forgiveness

Christ's forgiveness of an adulteress is our model of mercy

THE JEWS were celebrating the Feast of Tab­ernacles or Tents, in the Holy City. That meant that a large number of people from all over the world were there, living in booths and tents in memory of the time their ancestors wandered homeless with Moses in the desert. It would naturally be a time of great public excitement and an occasion in which some immorality might occur.
Early on the last morning of the feast some of the Jews brought a woman taken in adultery and led her to the spot in the Temple where Jesus was teaching. They were so anxious to make her sin public that they rudely broke into His instruc­tion. It is certain that they were not there only because of zeal for the Law or morality.
When they pressed Jesus for a decision, how kindly and thoughtfully He acted! He did not name their sins in order to confound them; He allowed them to confound themselves by suggesting that the one among them without sin cast the first stone. They began to depart after that until, as Saint Augustine says, only the two remained—misery and mercy, the woman and Christ. The tender way in which Christ then dismisses her shows us that charity and grace are stronger than punishments in pre­venting wrong-doing and that there is no sin He will not pardon for the repentant sinner.
But we are not always so forgiving. With our tempers we may have stoned a fellow worker or neighbor for his or her sins.
"Let him who is without sin among you be the first
to cast a stone at her." John 8:7
in the Imitation of Christ we read: "In judging others, a man labors in vain, often errs, and easily sins; but in judging and looking into himself, he always labors with fruit" (1, 14). In Holy Scripture God warns us of the danger of judging others.
"Do not judge, that you may not be judged. For with whatjudgment you judge, you shall be judged; and with whatmeasure you measure, it shall be measured to you. But why dostthou see the speck in thy brother's eye, and yet dost not con­sider the beam in thy own eye? Or how canst thou say to thybrother, 'Let me cast out the speck from thy eye'; and behold,there is a beam in thy own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast outthe beam from thy own eye, and then thou wilt see clearly tocast out the speck from thy brother's eye." Matt. 7:1-5
"Wherefore, thou art inexcusable, O man, whoever thouart who judgest. For wherein thou judgest another, thou dostcondemn thyself. For thou who judgest dost the same thingsthyself. And we know that the judgment of God is accordingto truth against those who do such things. But dost thou think,O man who judgest those who do such things and dost the samethyself, that thou wilt escape the judgment of God? Or dostthou despise the riches of His goodness and patience and long-suffering? Dost thou not know that the goodness of God ismeant to lead thee to repentance?" Rom. 2:1-4
"Therefore, pass no judgment before the time, until theLord comes, who will both bring to light the things hidden indarkness and make manifest the counsels of hearts; and theneveryone will have his praise from God." 1 Cor. 4:5

A Warning and a Promise

Chapter 65
MATT. 10:24-33; LUKE 11:53-54; 12:1-9, 11-12
Stung by christ's rebuke, the Pharisees and teachers of the Law began plotting against Him. They sought His opinion on various subjects, endeavoring to provoke some indiscreet utterance that they might use as evidence in accusing Him. His followers were one day to be hounded in the same way, and to forearm them against this persecution and a possible com­promise with the enemy, He said to them:
"Beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. No disciple is above his teacher, nor is the servant above his mas­ter. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and for the servant to be like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more those of his house­hold! But there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. For what you have said in darkness will be said in the light; and what you have whispered in the inner chambers will be preached on the housetops. But I say to you, My friends: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will show you whom you shall be afraid of; be afraid of him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell. Yes, I say to you, be afraid of him. Are not five spar­rows sold for a farthing? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's leave. Yes, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows. And I say to you, everyone who acknowledges Me before men, him will the Son of Man also acknowledge before the angels of God. But who­ever disowns Me before men will be disowned before the an­gels of God."
Then He promised them the aid of the Holy Ghost.
"And when they bring you before the synagogues and the magistrates and the authorities, do not be anxious how or wherewith you shall defend yourselves, or what you shall say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."

The loving care of God for each of us is a startling truth. In spite of the millions of hu­man beings, in spite of their multiple activi­ties, the infinite God is constantly watching over each human being and all his actions. To arm His disciples for persecution, Christ emphasized this truth for them. Even the hairs of their head, He told them, are known to God. Today, when many persecutors have ap­parent triumphs, it is well to recall that God's Providence is still at work. From every seeming defeat He draws some good.

A Dinner with a Pharisee

Chapter 64
Luke 11: 37-52
THEN JESUS HAD FINISHED SPEAKING, one of the Pharisees invited Him to his house for dinner. Jesus accepted the invitation, entered the man's house, and reclined at the dinner table. But his host, dismayed, began asking himself why He had not first washed His hands, as the law of the Pharisees required. But Jesus said:
"Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but within you are full of robbery and wickedness. Foolish ones! did not he who made the outside make the inside too? Nevertheless, give that which remains as alms; and behold, all things are clean to you. But woe to you Pharisees! because you pay tithes on mint and rue and every herb, and disregard justice and the love of God. But these things you ought to have done, while not leaving the others undone. Woe to you Pharisees! because you love the front seats in the synagogues and greetings in the market place. Woe to you! because you are like hidden tombs, over which men walk unawares."
Here a guest who was a teacher of the Law interrupted and said, "Master, in saying these things, Thou insultest us also." Jesus said in reply:
"Woe to you lawyers also! because you load men with oppressive burdens and you yourselves with one of your fingers do not touch the burdens. Woe to you! for you build the tombs of the prophets, whereas your fathers killed them. So then you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs. For this reason also the wisdom of God has said, 'I will send them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will put to death and persecute, that the blood of all the prophets that has been shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, who was slain between the altar and the temple.' Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation. Woe to you lawyers! because you have taken away the key of knowledge; you have not entered yourselves and those who were entering you have hindered."

As we read the numerous denunciations by Christ of the externalism of the Pharisees, we might begin to suspect that external religious observances are of no importance. In the remarks made at the dinner given by the Pharisee, Christ again censures Pharisaical preoccupation with ritual and legal externals. But He adds, in this instance, "these things you ought to have done, while not leaving the others undone." External religious practices are important, too, but they must be animated by internal devotion.