[The Jewish people were dispersed (called the Diaspora) and living in different centres in the Mediterranean world. Here they came in contact with other ways of thought and expression. The Wisdom literature in the Shared testament (Old Testament) was among the last written before the coming of Christ. This book comes from Alexandria (Egypt) and the point is made that once before when they suffered in Egypt, during the Exodus, God came to their rescue. They are reminded of their history as a basis for trust in God
That night had been foretold to our ancestors, so that, once they saw what kind of oaths they had put their trust in, they would joyfully take courage.
This was the expectation of your people, the saving of the virtuous and the ruin of their enemies; for by the same act with which you took vengeance on our foes you made us glorious by calling us to you.
The devout children of worthy men offered sacrifice in secret and this divine pact they struck with one accord: that the saints would share the same blessings and dangers alike; and forthwith they had begun to chant the hymns of the fathers.
[This chapter is all about faith. It was written to encourage Jewish Christians, facing difficulties and under persecution, to persevere in faith. Note: first line of reading: some translations have “give us a conviction of… rather than ‘prove’]
Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen. It was for faith that our ancestors were commended.
It was by faith that Abraham obeyed the call to set out for a country that was the inheritance given to him and his descendants, and that he set out without knowing where he was going. By faith he arrived, as a foreigner, in the Promised Land, and lived there as if in a strange country, with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. They lived there in tents while he looked forward to a city founded, designed and built by God.
It was equally by faith that Sarah, in spite of being past the age, was made able to conceive, because she believed that he who had made the promise would be faithful to it. Because of this, there came from one man, and one who was already as good as dead himself, more descendants than could be counted, as many as the stars of heaven or the grains of sand on the seashore.
All these died in faith, before receiving any of the things that had been promised, but they saw them in the far distance and welcomed them, recognising that they were only strangers and nomads on earth. People who use such terms about themselves make it quite plain that they are in search of their real homeland. They can hardly have meant the country they came from, since they had the opportunity to go back to it; but in fact they were longing for a better homeland, their heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, since he has founded the city for them.
It was by faith that Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He offered to sacrifice his only son even though the promises had been made to him and he had been told: It is through Isaac that your name will be carried on. He was confident that God had the power even to raise the dead; and so, figuratively speaking, he was given back Isaac from the dead.
[A ‘little flock’ in a hostile world, the disciples must not be discouraged but must look with confidence to the Father who has chosen them for his kingdom. He warns against the danger of riches (a favourite theme of Luke) and stresses the value of almsgiving. ]
Jesus said to his disciples: 'There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom.
'Sell your possessions and give alms. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, treasure that will not fail you, in heaven where no thief can reach it and no moth destroy it. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
'See that you are dressed for action and have your lamps lit. Be like men waiting for their master to return from the wedding feast, ready to open the door as soon as he comes and knocks. Happy those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. I tell you solemnly, he will put on an apron, sit them down at table and wait on them. It may be in the second watch he comes, or in the third, but happy those servants if he finds them ready. You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what hour the burglar would come, he would not have let anyone break through the wall of his house. You too must stand ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.'
Peter said, 'Lord, do you mean this parable for us, or for everyone?' The Lord replied, 'What sort of steward, then, is faithful and wise enough for the master to place him over his household to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? Happy that servant if his master's arrival finds him at this employment. I tell you truly, he will place him over everything he owns. But as for the servant who says to himself, "My master is taking his time coming", and sets about beating the menservants and the maids, and eating and drinking and getting drunk, his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the unfaithful.
'The servant who knows what his master wants, but has not even started to carry out those wishes, will receive very many strokes of the lash. The one who did not know, but deserves to be beaten for what he has done, will receive fewer strokes. When a man has had a great deal given him, a great deal will be demanded of him; when a man has had a great deal given him on trust, even more will be expected of him.'
A
1. What word or phrase stands out for you? Why?
2. With whom in the readings do you most identify? Why
3. Do you feel attracted to anything in today’s readings? Do you feel
resistant to anything? Do you know why?
4. In what way do these readings affirm you?
5. In what way do these readings challenge you?
6. What can you do to respond to this challenge?
B
1. What have you done so far with what has been given to you (gospel)
2. How has understanding the past helped you to know your identity and purpose?
3. In your own your own words, how would you define “faith”?
4. Why does the person of faith also have to be a servant?
5. Relate a time in your life (or that of someone else) when the pursuit of wealth resulted in the loss of a much greater joy.
Extract from May Craig’s Book: Blessings. Ch 12.
“I received a long letter from an Auschwitz survivor called Stefan. Stefan’s wife had died after the birth of their second child. Stefan’s own health was failing rapidly. The letter told me that the blow had fallen. His health had given up. For years he had dreaded this moment. ‘I worry most of all,’ said the letter, ‘about the children. What will they become?’ Having written these words he must have stopped to reflect on what he had written, for he crossed out the last sentence and wrote: ‘No, I must not worry about them. They are in God’s hands, and there is only one thing important for them. I hope they will learn to have compassion for others.’
The reflection knocked me sideways, and years later it still does. Suddenly all the accepted ambitions that parents have for their offspring, and that I had for Anthony and Mark, were reduced to size. Health, wealth, reputation, success, fame - where did these stand on any eternal scale of values? Stefan had stumbled on the pearl of great price. He had, as his wife had, suffered at the hands of men and women without compassion, and the effects of their cruelties would be with him till he died from them. Yet, in spite of it, or perhaps because of it, he had learned a secret of inestimable importance: that the strongest force in the world was love, and that to share his knowledge with one’s children was the most precious gift one could make to them. In the concentration camps, when all other qualities went to the wall, only loving-kindness had counted. Cleverness, rank, talent were of no account. What kept the spark of humanity alive was compassion - one wounded, stricken human being reaching out to another. Because those in the concentration camps had lived with death, they had understood what was essential to life. Their values were the right way up.
I think this came home to me most clearly when I returned to England after my visit to Poland with Sue Ryder. We had been, for the space of a few weeks, with men and women who were materially poor, if not downright poverty-stricken, and who condition was unlikely to improve. Yet one was aware of them as a community bound together by past suffering and present caring. They helped each other, shared what little they had, laughed together, wept together. Then we found ourselves back in the land of plenty, where every man was an island entire unto himself, where false gods multiplied, the rat race was the general goal, and no one knew how to talk to anyone else, let alone share his loneliness and pain.
• Read the second reading reflectively and pray that you may be able to trust as you face an unknown future.
• Pray that you may be able to use your gifts and talents for the benefit of others
• Hear the words of Jesus: “There is no need to be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom” spoken to you.