Daily Gospel Reflection – Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Bishop Robert Barron
October 27, 2023
Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Gospel: Lk 12:54-59
Jesus said to the crowds,
"When you see a cloud rising in the west
you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does;
and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south
you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is.
You hypocrites!
You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky;
why do you not know how to interpret the present time?
"Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?
If you are to go with your opponent before a magistrate,
make an effort to settle the matter on the way;
otherwise your opponent will turn you over to the judge,
and the judge hand you over to the constable,
and the constable throw you into prison.
I say to you, you will not be released
until you have paid the last penny."
*United States Conference of Catholic
Bishop Robert Barron
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus criticizes the crowd by saying that they could interpret the earth and the clouds but do not know how to interpret the present time.
So, how do we know what’s going on in the world? How do we read the signs of the times? We could do so politically, sociologically, culturally, or economically. All these ways are valuable lenses for viewing the world. But note the important difference in the Bible.
What was peculiar about ancient Israel was their reading the world through theological lenses. When they wanted to read the signs of the times, they wondered what God was doing and why. The deepest and truest reading is the theological one that seeks after the divine causality and purpose that works under and through all the other lenses.
The modern period has become largely conditioned by a deist view of God, whereby God is construed as a distant object only vaguely related to the world. On this reading God does not actively involve himself in the affairs of economics, politics, or culture. Ah! But that’s not the biblical reading. For the biblical authors, God acts in and through all the ordinary events and dynamics of the world.
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