BIG C CATHOLICS

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. Director, La Salette Shrine Enfield, NH ( Click here for today’s readings ) About 30 years ago I worked at a seminary. We had a librarian named Sr. Frances. Whenever she would remind me of something I had promised to do, I would answer, “In due time.” To which she always replied with a paraphrase of Luke 16:22: “In due time the beggar died.” Most of us know the type. They ask for something. They remind us the next day. And the next, and the next... Until we do it, convenient or not, just to make it stop! Today’s story of Abraham has a brief prologue that is not included in the lectionary.   “With Abraham walking with them to see them on their way, the men set out from there and looked down toward Sodom. The LORD considered: Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, now that he is to become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth are to find blessing in him? So the LORD said”—and here begins our text, “The outcry a...

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. La Salette Missionaries of North America Hartford, Connecticut ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) In Jesus’ place, what would you have said to Martha? What would you have said to Mary? I know what I would have said: “People are like snowflakes, no two are alike.” It is one of my favorite sayings, which I often use in talks. Sometimes, when there are people in the audience who have never seen snow, I have to show pictures of snowflakes to help them see the point. Probably Martha and Mary had seen snow. It’s mentioned often enough in the Old Testament. They certainly knew it was white, and that the melting snows in the mountains were important for the spring harvests. But the idea of snowflakes not being alike? Well, it’s a nice psychological idea. But the Gospels aren’t about psychology. Still, the image helps us to see how Martha and Mary related differently to Jesus. So the psychological point has very important spiritual consequences. Have yo...

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. La Salette Missionaries of North America Hartford, Connecticut ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) In reflecting on today’s gospel, I spent way too much time reading about Torti v. Van Horn. This was a California court case, in which a “Good Samaritan” was sued for injuries she allegedly caused when pulling a friend from a car after an accident. The friend later wanted to sue her, a lower court said no, but the California Supreme Court said the suit could be allowed. The decision began with these words: “Under well-established common law principles, a person has no duty to come to the aid of another.” In the light of that principle, the priest and the Levite in today’s parable did nothing wrong. In the light of Torti v. Van Horn, they actually did the sensible thing. In any case, now I know why the scholar of the law asked the questions he did. It’s what lawyers did in those days. It’s what lawyers still do today. They test each other. I...

Fr. René J. Butler, M.S. La Salette Missionaries of North America Hartford, Connecticut ( Click here for Sunday’s readings ) I have always had a problem with the portion of today’s Gospel where Jesus tells his disciples to shake or wipe from their feet the dust of the towns that do not welcome them, i.e. that did not accept the Gospel. It seems so harsh. Now this is the same Jesus who, in last Sunday’s Gospel, rebuked James and John who wanted to call down fire from heaven on the Samaritans that would not let them come into their town. Is there really any difference between the two situations? In fact, there is. First   there is the urgency of the situation. Last week we saw disciples sent simply to prepare the way for Jesus. Today we see them sent to do the same things Jesus did, particularly curing the sick and preaching. They were not to be distracted by financial concerns or casual conversation. To judge by the final paragraph in today’s text, their mission was la...

Pope Francis will publish his first encyclical, Lumen Fidei (“The Light of Faith”), on Friday. Benedict XVI drafted the encyclical before his retirement and Pope Francis has reworked and completed the draft.   The encyclical will focus on the subject of faith and its publication is one of the major events of the Year of Faith, which ends on November 24. From the Catholic Herald of Britian