Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 23, 2022

October 23, 2022

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October 23, 2022

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ellie

Ellie

Hidalgo

Hidalgo


St. Luke begins today’s Gospel with some provocative words. He is not holding back in setting up the scene. He writes:

“Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.”

Ooof. Let’s read that again. “Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.”

Ouch. Who is Jesus talking to? He certainly is not addressing my ancestors or yours. He’s addressing THOSE PEOPLE. You know who they are, the ones over there who are convinced they have the right point of view and therefore get to hate everyone else with a different point of view.

Does this Gospel have any relevance for us today? Well…Jesus might be addressing me and you, but only very rarely, those few times when we might be convinced we’re absolutely right and then start hating on some other group of people. But this happens only very rarely. Afterall, we’re Catholics – and we only treat others as we would like to be treated. Right?

But let's assume just for the next few minutes, out of curiosity, that Luke knows that Jesus is addressing everyone – even me and you -- nearly 2000 years later. How is that possible? I think it reveals something that Luke and Jesus understood about the human condition. We just love, love, love our own point of view and our own perspective and our own experience, and it can be really, really, really hard to listen to whose lives and decisions look very different than our own.

To help us out, Jesus offer this parable of the self-righteous Pharisee and the repentant Tax Collector so we can hear how they each sound in their prayers and to encourage us to make a choice. To choose humility.

Today’s Gospel is a warning, particularly for us as people of faith. Even people of faith can end up distorting faith. We can become convinced that we’ve got it all figured out. But more than likely, there are times when we sound like the Pharisee and smugly feel entitled to pass harsh judgment on someone else. And other times when we are like the tax collector, able to recognize our sinfulness and ask God for mercy.

We’re reflecting on this Gospel reading during a dynamic time when Pope Francis has called for the Catholic Church to engage in a global synod listening process, because walking together in the same direction, says Pope Francis, “is what God expects of the Church in the third millennium: that it regain awareness of being a people on the road and of having to travel together.” Recently parishes and dioceses and Catholic organizations around the world have finished this first listening phase and synthesis reports have been submitted to the Vatican. It has been described by some observers as the “biggest consultation exercise in human history.” And we get to be a part of this.

As members of the Body of Christ, we have intentionally listened to one another about our joys, hopes, concerns and wounds in reflecting on our experiences within our Catholic faith communities -- and to discern how the Holy Spirit is invites us to walk together better. All kinds of efforts have been made to listen to younger Catholics, older Catholics, lay women and men, religious, clergy, mothers, fathers, GLBTQ+ Catholics, those who are divorced, those with disabilities, those who have been made poor, immigrants, the incarcerated, and those on the peripheries. We’ve even listened to brothers and sisters from other religious traditions who want to be relating to us.  

This opportunity comes at a time when many of our extended families, communities, even countries experience polarization and painful divisions. Today’s first reading reminds us that God hears the cries of the oppressed, the poor, the widow, the orphan, and we know in our hearts that we are called to something greater than division and woundedness.

It requires humility to become a People of God capable of encountering one another, listening, dialoguing, and able to do the hard work of communal discernment. All this synodal listening can be fruitful if we are curious and believe that every person we meet has God-given dignity and has something of value to share and that we too have something of value to share.

Jesus is asking something of us today – It’s an invitation to greater awareness. To catch ourselves when we’re feeding our own self-righteousness and allowing ourselves to despise another human being. That’s the moment to say, “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Give me a listening heart. A heart that is willing to be vulnerable. A heart that is willing to invite another into dialogue and to discern your will for us. A heart that is willing to trust in the movement of the Holy Spirit in us and through all of us, so that every person is included in the Body of Christ. Give me a heart that that is willing to take a chance on you, God.

San Lucas comienza el evangelio de hoy con unas palabras provocadoras. No se demora en plantear la escena. Escribe:

"Jesús dijo esta parábola por algunos que estaban convencidos de ser justos y despreciaban a los demás"

Uff. Leamos eso de nuevo. "Jesús dijo esta parábola por algunos que estaban convencidos de ser justos y despreciaban a los demás"

Wow. ¿A quién se dirige Jesús? Desde luego, no se dirige a mis antepasados ni a los tuyos. Se dirige a ESAS PERSONAS. Ya sabes quiénes son, los que están convencidos de que tienen el punto de vista correcto y, por tanto, llegan a despreciar a todos los demás con un punto de vista diferente.

¿Tiene este evangelio alguna relevancia para nosotros hoy? Bueno... puede que Jesús se dirija a mí y a ti, pero sólo en muy raras ocasiones, esas pocas veces en las que podemos estar convencidos de que tenemos toda la razón y entonces empezamos a despreciar a algún otro grupo de personas. Pero esto ocurre sólo en muy raras ocasiones. Al fin y al cabo, somos católicos, cristianos, y sólo tratamos a los demás como nos gustaría que nos trataran a nosotros. ¿Verdad?

Pero supongamos sólo por unos minutos, por curiosidad, que Lucas sabe que Jesús se dirige a todos - incluso a mí y a ti - casi 2000 años después. Creo que evangelio revela algo que Lucas y Jesús comprendieron sobre la condición humana. Simplemente amamos, amamos, amamos nuestro propio punto de vista y nuestra propia experiencia. Y puede ser muy, muy, muy difícil escuchar a quienes tienen vidas y decisiones muy diferentes a las nuestras.

Para ayudarnos, Jesús nos ofrece esta parábola del fariseo arrogante y del recaudador de impuestos arrepentido, para que podamos escuchar cómo suena cada uno en sus oraciones y para animarnos a hacer una elección. La de elegir la humildad.

El evangelio de hoy es una advertencia, especialmente para nosotros como personas de fe. Incluso las personas de fe pueden acabar distorsionando la fe. Podemos llegar a convencernos de que lo tenemos todo resuelto. Pero lo más probable es que haya momentos en los que nos parezcamos al fariseo y nos sintamos con derecho a juzgar duramente a otra persona. Y otras veces en las que somos como el recaudador de impuestos, capaces de reconocer nuestra pecaminosidad y pedir a Dios misericordia.

Estamos reflexionando sobre esta lectura del evangelio en un momento dinámico en el que el Papa Francisco ha hecho un llamamiento a la Iglesia católica para que se comprometa en un proceso de escucha sinodal global, porque caminar juntos en la misma dirección, dice el Papa Francisco, "es lo que Dios espera de la Iglesia del tercer milenio. Que retome la conciencia que es un pueblo en camino y que debe hacerlo junto."  

Recientemente, las parroquias y diócesis y las organizaciones católicas de todo el mundo han terminado esta primera fase de escucha y se han presentado informes de síntesis al Vaticano. Algunos observadores lo han descrito como el "mayor ejercicio de consulta de la historia de la humanidad". Y nosotros somos parte de esta historia.

Como miembros del Cuerpo de Cristo, nos hemos escuchado intencionadamente unos a otros sobre nuestras alegrías, esperanzas, preocupaciones y heridas al reflexionar sobre nuestras experiencias en el seno de nuestras comunidades de fe católicas. Y para discernir cómo nos invita el Espíritu Santo a caminar mejor juntos. Se han hecho todo tipo de esfuerzos para escuchar a los católicos más jóvenes, a los mayores, a las mujeres y hombres laicos, a los religiosos, al clero, a las madres, a los padres, los abuelos. También a los católicos de la comunidad LGBTQ+, a los divorciados, a los discapacitados, a los pobres, a los inmigrantes, a los encarcelados y a los que están en las periferias. Incluso hemos escuchado a hermanos y hermanas de otras tradiciones religiosas que quieren relacionarse con nosotros.  

Esta oportunidad llega en un momento en el que muchas de nuestras familias, comunidades, e incluso países, experimentan una polarización y divisiones dolorosas. La primera lectura de hoy nos recuerda que Dios escucha los gritos de los oprimidos, de los pobres, de la viuda, del huérfano, y sabemos en nuestro corazón que estamos llamados a algo más grande que la división y la herida.

Se requiere humildad para llegar a ser un Pueblo de Dios capaz de encontrarse, de escucharse, de dialogar y de realizar el duro trabajo del discernimiento comunitario. Toda esta escucha sinodal puede ser fructífera si somos curiosos y creemos que cada persona con la que nos encontramos tiene una dignidad otorgada por Dios y tiene algo de valor que compartir, y que nosotros también tenemos algo de valor que compartir.

Jesús nos pide algo hoy: es una invitación a una mayor conciencia. Para que nos demos cuenta de cuándo estamos alimentando nuestra propia autoestima de una manera falsa en que nos permitimos despreciar a otro ser humano. Ese es el momento de decir: "Dios mío, ten piedad de mí, que soy un pecador". Dame un corazón que escuche. Un corazón que esté dispuesto a ser vulnerable. Un corazón que esté dispuesto a invitar a otro a dialogar y a discernir tu voluntad para nosotros. Un corazón que esté dispuesto a confiar en el movimiento del Espíritu Santo en nosotros y a través de todos nosotros, para que cada persona esté incluida en el Cuerpo de Cristo. Dame un corazón que esté dispuesto a arriesgarme por ti, Dios.

Referencia bíblica de: La Biblia, Formadores, Latinoamérica, 2004, San Pablo/Editorial Verbo Divino

First Reading

Sir 35:12-14, 16-18

PSALM

Ps 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23

Second Reading

2 Tm 4:6-8, 16-18

GOSPEL

Lk 18:9-14
Read texts at usccb.org

Ellie Hidalgo

Ellie Hidalgo

Ellie Hidalgo is co-director of Discerning Deacons, a project that engages Catholics in the active discernment of our Church about women and the diaconate. Discerning Deacons is deeply engaged in the global synod process, helping to animate over 350 sessions that reached 9,000 people in the listening phase, and Ellie is committed to serving this bold, prophetic vision of a synodal Church that walks together as the people of God, in our faith-filled struggles for justice, dignity, and peace. She brings 12 years of parish ministry experience at Dolores Mission, a Jesuit parish in the Mexican/Central American immigrant community of East Los Angeles, California where she served as a pastoral associate. This small church with a giant heart is known for its advocacy of immigrants, restorative justice ministries and faith-based community organizing, and for being the home parish of Homeboy Industries. Ellie was commissioned as a pastoral associate for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2013; she preached for Catholic Women Preach in 2020 and in 2018 and helped to facilitate national prayer services in 2020 and 2021 to commemorate St. Phoebe, one of the early Church’s female deacons. Previously, Ellie served as a staff writer for The Tidings Catholic Newspaper writing news and feature stories about Hispanic ministry, restorative justice, youth ministry, and immigration reform. Her articles frequently appeared in Catholic News Service. She graduated with a Masters in Pastoral Theology from Loyola Marymount University and received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. Ellie is the first of five children born to Cuban parents and a proud aunt to eight nieces and nephews and numerous godchildren. She returned to Miami, Florida, USA in 2020 to live closer to family.

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