Season of Faith, the 27-30th weeks of ordinary time, in October shows the silver thread of faith that connects healing, persistence and truth. A call to faith and prayer and recognizing God’s answers and miracles. The silver thread of faith recorded in the liturgical readings connect healing, persistence and truth. Radio show by Msgr. David LeSieur and Patti Brunner. Audio link: Download Show. For script and references please continue reading.
Originally broadcast on KDUA-FM by Padua Media. For other Living Seasons of Change audio links: http://www.Paduamedia.com/living-seasons. Scripts and references are available on this Patriarch Ministries website.
Script of Season of Faith
Patti Brunner: Welcome to Living Seasons of Change, the show that connects the Church’s liturgy to your daily life. Today’s show finds a silver thread that runs through the 27th to the 30th Sundays of Ordinary Time. I’m Patti Brunner and my co-host today is Monsignor David LeSieur, a priest of the Diocese of Little Rock. Welcome Monsignor! Did you know that silver has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any substance?
Msgr. David LeSieur: How about that! The Gospels of this season show us that faith can be a conduit that is greater than silver. I want to remind our listeners that they can find the liturgical readings and the references from our show today at PatriarchMinistries.com.
Patti Brunner: The readings this month show how effective faith can be when there is a good connection. As God’s word is spread among the nations, they, too, shall know God and healing will be theirs. On the 28th week of ordinary time, we get to see how faith can spread through the story of Naaman[i] in 2nd Kings chapter 5.
Msgr. David LeSieur: Naaman was a highly respected commander of the army of the king of Syria who got leprosy. Leprosy was a skin condition considered contagious and was usually incurable. Naaman’s wife had a servant girl who had been captured by the Syrians from Israel. Syria, Israel’s neighbor to the northeast has been generally hostile toward the Jews since ancient days. Its capital is Damascus. Anyway, the little servant girl had faith in God, the God of Israel and told Naaman’s wife that ‘If only the master would present himself to God’s prophet in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy.’
Patti Brunner: So, this little girl had enough faith to speak up. She believed that God could heal leprosy. This little girl, seemingly totally powerless, yet she is sharing the word of God, witnessing to powerful people. Even though she was made a slave, she is a missionary of “biblical proportions!
Msgr. David LeSieur: And so Naaman sends word to his king. Then the king of Syria wrote a note to the king of Israel, saying “cure my servant”.
Patti Brunner: The king of Israel says, now, wait a minute! “We can’t do that! Why is he coming to us?” And that’s when the prophet Elisha stepped up and said, “Sure! Our God can do that!”
Msgr. David LeSieur: “Naaman came to Israel with his horses and chariots and stopped at Elisha’s house. But the prophet just sent him a message to go wash 7 times in the Jordan River and he would be healed. That made Naaman angry because he expected Elisha to come out and summon his God and move his hand over the spot. And he was offended to be told to wash in the Jordan when Damascus rivers were far cleaner. “Not the dirty Jordan!”
Patti Brunner: Right, we all want God to act in the way we want him to act. Naaman almost turned around and went home.
Msgr. David LeSieur: “But his servants came up and reasoned with him. They said to him, “If the prophet had told you to do something extraordinary would you not have done it?” So Naaman went down and plunged himself in the Jordan River seven times.
Patti Brunner: And that’s where our reading on the 28th Sunday picks up, where Naaman actually does what Elisha the prophet asked him to do. And he is healed. Then Naaman wants to pay the prophet for his healing; And Elisha says, “now wait a minute, I’m only a servant; I won’t take it.” So that’s when Naaman gathers up the earth. Why did he do that?
Msgr. David LeSieur: Naaman’s culture believed that each god was connected to particular lands. So to worship the God of the Land of Israel he took two mule-loads of dirt home to Syria with him.
Patti Brunner: Naaman had faith without understanding. The faith of each of our characters brought about his healing: Naaman, the little girl and the prophet Elisha.
In the Gospel on the 27th Sunday from the 17th chapter of Luke, the apostles ask Jesus to increase their faith.
Msgr. David LeSieur: He responds by saying “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed you would say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea”, and it would obey you.” [Luke 17:]
Patti Brunner: We get more details when we hear the “mustard seed” story in the gospel of Matthew[ii]. The disciples are asking for more faith because they were unable to heal a child. Jesus explains to them that the amount of faith is not the issue. In Romans 12:3 Paul tells us that we all receive a measure of faith. Jesus touches on the undeveloped, supernatural gift they have already been given because faith the size of the mustard seed could move a mulberry tree or even a mountain. In the Gospel of Mark Jesus says that “Everything is possible to one who has faith”, then he addresses the failure of the disciples in the healing of the child with the need for prayer[iii] .
Msgr. David LeSieur: When Jesus refers to Naaman [iv], which we hear on the 4th Sunday of ordinary time, Jesus is speaking in his local synagogue. He brings it up to remind the people that a prophet is not accepted in his own native place. He reminds them that only the foreign leper was healed.
Patti Brunner: As chapter 17 of Luke’s Gospel continues on the 28th week, we have the story of the 10 lepers who are healed. Not just one but ten! Again, the “foreigner”, the Samaritan the leper who is healed, is our focus as he is the one to return to give thanks.
Msgr. David LeSieur: It’s about healing. There again, it’s the outsider. Luke is sympathetic to outsiders.
Patti Brunner: All ten approached him and said, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!” They were obedient to the Law; they stood at a distance, they didn’t come up to him. But when he saw them he told them to go on and show themselves to the priest. I’ve heard it said that the lepers didn’t realize that they were healed until they left, until they started the journey to the temple.
Msgr. David LeSieur: That’s true. Scripture says while “they were going they were cleansed.” So they believed him. They didn’t say “well, heal us first and then we’ll go to the priest. They turned around to go as soon as he said so, and on their way they were healed. They believed in him.
Patti Brunner: Jesus sent them to the priest because Mosaic Law required them to be declared “clean” by the priest and follow a purification ritual [v]before they could rejoin the general public.
Msgr. David LeSieur: That’s right. And on the way they were healed. Of the ten, only one returned to give God glory and to thank Jesus. And that one was a Samaritan.
Patti Brunner: The Samaritans were step-brothers to the Jewish people. They were a mixed race of Jews and Assyrians.
Msgr. David LeSieur: “They kept the five books of Moses but rejected the second Temple in Jerusalem in favor of worship in their own territory” [vi] But remember all of the lepers were outsiders; not just the Samaritan.
Patti Brunner: And all ten were healed on their way. The healing takes place in the spiritual before it manifests in the natural. Their example of faith calls us to accept our healing before we see it. Our readings talk a lot about healing. Not healing through herbs and vitamins and exercise, but healing through knowing the power of God. We are also called to step out and tell others the good news. It’s not enough to just stand there and bask in your “goodness”; there is no justification there.
Msgr. David LeSieur: Yes, one of the things we are called to do with our faith is to pass it on to others, especially the next generation.
Patti Brunner: We have this wonderful example of the Christians teaching the next generations as we read from the book of 2nd Timothy on each of our Sundays this month.
Msgr. David LeSieur: That’s right! Timothy’s grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice shared their faith and now Timothy has become a leader in his community. Paul claims him as his “beloved child[vii]” too.
Patti Brunner: It’s a real success story. The Old Testament is full of failure between the generations where the ‘next’ generation of people forgot God’s power and goodness and turned their back on him to seek favor from other gods and other sources.
Msgr. David LeSieur: We see it in the children of the kings of Israel; we see it in the children of Adam and Eve! In the Catholic faith, we recognize the importance of choosing grace for our children and then helping them mature in faith as they grow. We baptize our infants and prepare our children for the sacraments of Reconciliation, Eucharist and Confirmation.
Patti Brunner: Yet we seem to miss the boat. There is a drifting away from Christ by an entire generation. “The percentage of American adults who identify themselves as Christians dropped from 86% in 1990 to 77% in 2001. This is an unprecedented drop of almost 1 percentage point per year.”[viii]
Msgr. David LeSieur: If we don’t make some changes we might turn out like Great Britain Christians. Only 10%[ix] of their population regularly attend Sunday services. Around the world, churches are becoming condominiums and museums. Even in Italy, who have the benefit of the Pope as the bishop of Rome, church attendance dropped from 70% in 1955 to 30% in 1985.
Patti Brunner: I shudder to think how low it must be now! These countries became a secular society. How about our own area?
Msgr. David LeSieur: Our area’s church attendance is increasing. We are blessed with Christian immigration to our area. That doesn’t only include our church but also the churches in our area.
Patti Brunner: But I think we must do more to spread the word of God among our people. We’ve got to work at maintaining faith within families.
Msgr. David LeSieur: That’s part of the tradition of the church, to hand down to the next generation the faith that we receive: Biblical faith, catechetical faith, personal faith. And that is our duty too. It’s part of the mustard seed of faith.
Patti Brunner: I don’t know if this is bad news or good news but I think we live in a time when the younger Christians are more knowledgeable and more passionate about their faith than the elder.
Msgr. David LeSieur: When Paul wrote to Timothy he told him to “stir into flame” the gift of God that was within him. Maybe when the disciples say “increase our faith” Jesus is saying the same thing. “Stir into flame what you’ve already got. If you would do that you could move the mulberry tree into the ocean. It would obey you. We say or feel we have to have more faith to do great things. Maybe that’s our excuse. We say “increase our faith and then maybe I’ll do something.” That’s an excuse. It’s that stepping out that is required. Jesus says you’ve got enough faith. Use what you have got.
Patti Brunner: That is exactly what I see when some parishioners are asked to share their faith with children, teenagers or adults. They say, “Oh, I don’t know enough!” And its like, wait a minute, you’ve got the same bible, the same catechism, the same sacramental base that the next person has. You do have enough to share. You have the truth! It is handed to you. If we don’t know our faith we have to pick up what has been handed to us and ask God to explain it to us one more time.
Msgr. David LeSieur: That’s why I think it is so important for people to get involved with “Why Catholic” adult study groups or scripture study. Not just to learn but to share what it means to you. All we have to do is ask God to stir our faith into a flame and it will be done.
Patti Brunner: In the reading from 2nd Timothy on the 29th week we hear “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness”. Of course when Paul says that, he is talking about what we call the Old Testament. After the Church realized that Jesus’ 2nd coming was off in the future it came together and decided what the New Testament scripture would officially be. The Church recognized that these words by Paul to Timothy are also inspired by God.
Msgr. David LeSieur: Exactly! “All scripture is inspired by God…so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” Wow. “Equipped for every good work!” “Competent!” It’s a pretty good reason to study scripture.
Patti Brunner: This reading is so powerful. It starts by saying, “From infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures.” Again, Timothy is that second or third generation Christian that has been “weaned” on the scriptures. He knows the stories of the scripture, war stories and love stories. He knows the poetry and the songs.
Msgr. David LeSieur: He’s read the warnings from the prophets and he knows the important promises God has given his people. His Christian teachers have helped him to understand how Jesus is the fulfillment of those promises. Like an athlete, Timothy is into training through the word of God.
Patti Brunner: As we said earlier, the Old Testament is full of examples of generations who go backwards in their relationship with God. I might challenge our listeners to look at all the Christian media in your home: books/games/ videos/favorite TV shows. What Christian training tools are in your home? And how dusty are the ones that are there? Do you spend more time discussing football in your home than God?
Msgr. David LeSieur: Paul must have understood our fascination with sports. In the reading from 2 Timothy on the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Paul talks about his own evangelization efforts as if it were an athletic competition. “I have competed well; he says, I have finished the race; I have kept the faith” and how he’s waiting to receive the gold medal, the crown, the award from the Lord at judgement day.
Patti Brunner: Where will we stand when the horn blows that the game is over? Will we win the prize? Or will we lose? We are called to live our life in service to the Lord, and to take advantage of all the perks of the Kingdom. We should be eager for the whistle to blow. Our Christian hope is that even though this life is over, true life shall continue in its fullness. We can start a relationship with God now. If we experience his fullness now, the blast of the horn shall have no effect on true life as we celebrate the win.
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Patti Brunner: Welcome back, I’m Patti Brunner and I’m talking with Msgr. David LeSieur. Did you know that “Greek games were usually religious affairs”? “They began and concluded with sacrificial drink offerings, or libations, poured out to the gods to whom the games were dedicated”.[x] Paul writes to Timothy and describes his own life as being poured out in libations. But his libations are for the one true God.
Msgr. David LeSieur: Like Jesus, Paul uses terms people understand to get his point across. Luke gives us the words and deeds of Jesus to teach us as disciples, and presents “Jesus himself as a model of Christian life and piety.”[xi]
Patti Brunner: On the 29th Sunday, we hear from Exodus and learn of the persistence of Moses’ prayer during a battle with the Amalek. Then, Jesus reminds us to pray always and gives us the story of the persistent widow[xii]. On the next week our first reading from Sirach seems to tie in with the previous week’s gospel as we hear the attributes of God and how he responds to the widow when she pours out her complaint. In the Gospel, Jesus tells the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector praying in the temple.[xiii]
Msgr. David LeSieur: Lots of prayer it seems. As long as Moses held his hands up to God in prayer, the Israelites did well in battle. When he got tired and lowered his hands, they would start losing. So Aaron and Hur helped Moses sit on a rock and together they held his arms up in prayer. It’s a beautiful image of supporting your leaders.
Patti Brunner
It sure is. It also is a story of persistence, To keep petitioning.
Msgr. David LeSieur
Like the persistent widow?
Patti Brunner: Women, especially widows, during the time of Christ had no standing in the courts at all.
Msgr. David LeSieur: In our story a widow is dependant on a dishonest judge to help her. He doesn’t believe in God. He doesn’t care about her. He doesn’t care about anybody. But then this little woman strikes terror in this old judge. So, he says, “I’ll give her justice because she might do me harm.”
Patti Brunner: In his judgement he says, “It’s true I neither fear God nor respect any human being, but because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.”[xiv]
Msgr. David LeSieur: Jesus calls us to take note of the results you can get with a dishonest judge and challenges us to seek even better results from God who is always fair and just.
Patti Brunner: Jesus is showing us again in the “natural” a way of dealing in the natural to get a supernatural result.
Msgr. David LeSieur: I think if a person has faith, they don’t have to desperately knock on God’s door, and say, “You’re not listening to me!” They’ll ask for what they need and they’ll trust that it will be given.
Patti Brunner: Well, she didn’t give up. Just like the Lord is calling us not to give up. Even though we don’t see the result we wanted. We have to trust in the Lord, for that result to come about and not to give up before the Lord’s time; his time is perfect. The Gospel is letting us know that prayer is important, petition is important. But it is the scripture that puts the meat in believing what the prayer is all about; the understanding of who God is and understanding of what his promises are. It gives teeth to it.
Msgr. David LeSieur: That’s right. With scripture you know who God is and when you petition God you are petitioning someone you know because scripture has revealed God to us. When Jesus talks about the prayers of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, we get another role reversal from Luke.
Patti Brunner: The Pharisee’s prayer was genuine and sincere; he didn’t realize he was self-righteous. But his prayer was full of judgement against the tax collector and full of pride.
Msgr. David LeSieur: He notices the tax collector, and bounces his goodness off the tax collector’s badness. The tax collector becomes like a mirror for him or maybe an absorbent of his own boastfulness, “I’m not like this guy here.” The Pharisee kept the law, he fasted twice a week. He paid tithes on all he owned. He was not crooked and adulterous like other people he knew, like the tax collector behind him. But he was tooting his own horn. “I thank you that I am not like other men.”
Patti Brunner: He was grateful! That’s good, isn’t it?
Msgr. David LeSieur: He was just thanking God that he was good and not a public sinner, but he missed the boat when it came to the sin of pride.
Patti Brunner: Jesus says the one who exults himself will be humbled. Maybe you’re thinking: you’re not greedy, dishonest, or adulterous. Maybe you are faithful to your spouse. Maybe you do share what you have with others and you don’t cheat people. But the Lord is saying there’s more to it than that. Look in your heart and see what’s next. And, the more you are given the more that is expected of you. The tax collector knows he is a sinner and he is asking the Lord to be merciful.
Msgr. David LeSieur: He’s not covering anything up. The Pharisee is kind of glossing over his life by thanking God how good he is. How he’s not like the rest of people.
Patti Brunner: But the publican is kind of raw; he opens his heart up to the Lord. He asks for mercy. He doesn’t boast. He just says “this is me”.
Msgr. David LeSieur: The Pharisee says “this is me” but he reflects an image of himself that he wants to present before God, but God can see beneath all that. Realize: you’re a Pharisee; you’re a sinner. Its just you don’t admit it. The publican admitted it and ripped his mask off before God.
Patti Brunner: You know I had always thought the Pharisee was spouting his good qualities to everyone within earshot, but the scripture says that he spoke this prayer to himself. So he was really not being honest with himself. That surprises me. I always thought he was just bragging in front of the sinner.
Msgr. David LeSieur: Yeah, he was fooling himself. Keeping the letter of the law can be very empty.
Patti Brunner: This passage starts out telling us that Jesus is addressing this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. Jesus is opening the door to their hearts when they pray to show them who they are.
Msgr. David LeSieur: We are like the Master’s slave in our first Gospel this month who after serving in the field is then called to wait at the table of the master.
Patti Brunner: Right, we’ve got our day job out in the field and then evening comes and the Lord says, come on into the house and get a little closer and wait on my table. We can’t brag about serving at the master’s table. We’re just doing what we are supposed to do.
Msgr. David LeSieur: In the first reading on the 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, the prophet Habakkuk is having a hard time. He gives a list to the Lord of some of the horrible things that are going on.
Patti Brunner: He is saying, “Lord, life is hell in a hand basket here, what are we going to do? When are you going to work? How long is it going to take?”
Msgr. David LeSieur: “Misery, destruction and violence are before me; strife, clamorous discord! “ [xv]
Patti Brunner: “And the Lord answered me and said ‘write down the vision clearly upon the tablet so one could read it readily; for the vision still has its time… if it delays, wait for it.”[xvi]
Msgr. David LeSieur: And the Lord says “go back to basics. Write down what you know. Here’s the vision.”
Patti Brunner: “You’ve heard the vision. You know that my word is true.” So if you’ll just stick with what you know is true it will all work out in the end. And I think that’s a clear message for all of us when we’re stressed; everybody gets so stressed nowadays! And yet when you stop and look at it, what’s the worst that can happen? Can God not minister to you in the worst that can happen?
Msgr. David LeSieur: I’ll never forget one time I was in the seminary and I was really stewed up about something, I was really bothered and upset in my own heart, you know. There were several buildings at the seminary, and I remember having to pass through one building to get to the other. I was upset about something, and I passed a student room, and on the door of that student’s room there was a quotation from scripture that said “be still and know that I am God”[xvii] It almost stopped me in my tracks. My heart wasn’t still! I was upset. And then I saw that and I thought, you know, that is meant for me right here and right now. I began to think, “He’s telling me to be still and know that he is God.” That’s Psalm 46. I remember to this day. You know Habakkuk is saying, Help! things are bad; things are terrible! And God is saying “trust me” “wait for it”.
Patti Brunner: Wait for the vision, “If it delays, wait for it. It will surely come. It will not be late.”
Msgr. David LeSieur: The scripture says, “The rash one has no integrity”. I think I was being rash. I was only in my 20’s when this happened, so it’s been some time ago. The disciples are like Habakkuk. “Increase our faith! Do it now!” And the Lord says, “Wait for it, trust me. Do your work. And be faithful.”
Patti Brunner: It’s like the vision is the image of a tapestry. Right now you don’t see how everything is connected, but God has a plan. And he’s got this work for you to do. Before it is finished you may just be tying a few knots. All you see are knots and strings tied together and then at the end, God flips it around and you get to see the beautiful picture of the tapestry.
Msgr. David LeSieur: My parents used to hook rugs as a hobby. They even had a frame that attached the burlap. They would hook and then they would flip it over and trim all those loose strings and when you got it all done and turned it back over, it was a beautiful rug. Our four gospels this month come from the 16, 17th and 18th chapters of the Gospel written by Luke. As we look for the silver thread, the electrical conduit, that connects our four Gospels together, we see it’s a matter of comprehending or grasping faith.
Patti Brunner: We start and end with our come-uppance if we think that because we possess faith, we are entitled to honor. Rather, our gift of faith gives us chores, responsibilities. We are given ability, and to honor God we must use that ability, to serve others and to place the credit on God and not ourselves.
Msgr. David LeSieur: Jesus knew how easy it would be to be prideful when we possessed such an awesome gift, so he pointed out how the Pharisees reacted with self-righteousness. He then points us to the sinner to see how we can be justified by God.
Patti Brunner: The faith of the lepers expands because they have been stripped of all their pride. Their misery joins them together despite social ranking. Jews freely mix with Samaritans. Even though they are now “outsiders” they know who Jesus is and they call out with faith to receive his healing word. Faith can empower the weak and defeat the strong.
Msgr. David LeSieur: The poor widow defeats the powerful judge. In the midst of these examples of faith, the Lord brings out the second conduit needed for the perfect connection: prayer.
Patti Brunner: Faith the size of a mustard seed is activated by prayer to bring healing. The lepers loud prayer of petition gets results, even though they require obedience and time. The widow’s persistence with the unjust judge—well, Jesus recommends our prayer to have equal persistence and patience and faith for positive outcome. Our prayer can defeat any enemy. Just like Moses! But we have to believe in the God to whom we pray.
Msgr. David LeSieur: We have to believe he hears our prayers and that he is able to answer them. We have to continue to ask until God gives us a response.
Patti Brunner: And we have to strip our hearts of pride and recognize our weakness. God is God and we’re not. In each of the Gospels Jesus is giving us the opportunity to learn how to receive healing by knowing God. He examines the judgments rooted in our hearts and turns them upside down. He shows how he grants favor to those considered weak and worthless by society: the persistent widow, the repentant tax collector, the outcast lepers, especially the leper who was not only a physically an outcast but a religious outcast as well.
Msgr. David LeSieur: He explains the duty of the servant and requires faithfulness. We have to take the time to know that God is God. When life is focused on an immediate need: like being a leper—it is easier to seek the Creator who holds all the power in the universe in hope of cure. When Naaman sought help it was without understanding of God.
Patti Brunner: The prophets witness to us that their wicked and perverse generation did not know God. Does ours? Has the world closed their eyes to truth and accepted the creation instead of the Creator as their source of comfort and well-being? I know our listeners know God. You might not have him in the center of your lives but you know him. He is the God of Abraham, the God of Moses. Help those who don’t know God to discover him in the scripture of the liturgy. He reveals himself to us. He’s the God who heals, who redeems, who has compassion and forgiveness and who seeks the lowly to exult them. He is the God who knows your heart better than you know it yourself. Monsignor, will you close our show with a blessing?
Msgr. David LeSieur: [blessing]
Patti Brunner: Thank you Monsignor. To get a copy of the references in today’s show or to read the Liturgical readings please check the website PatriarchMinistries.com
References:
[i] 2 Kings, 5: 1-19 Story of Naaman
[ii] Mt. 17:14-21, Mark 9:-29 Faith the size of a mustard seed.
[iii] Mark 9:23 “Everything is possible to the one who has faith” [NAB] 9:29 “This kind can only come out through prayer”
[iv] Luke 4: 27 “And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” [RSV]
[v] Leviticus 14 Instruction for lepers.
[vi] On Samaritans: James L. Weaver. P 284 Workbook for Lectors and Readers, Year C 2007
[vii] 2 Timothy 1:2 “beloved child”; 1:5 “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.”
[viii] Church attendance statistics http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_tren.htm
[ix] Great Britain 10% in 1998 [see statistics file]
[x] Greek games James Weaver 2007C on 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 30th
[xi] Introduction of Luke in the NAB. In Luke “Jesus is a model of Christian life and piety”
[xii] Luke 18: 1-8
[xiii] Luke 18:9-14
[xiv] Luke 18:1-8
[xv] Habakkuk 1:3
[xvi] Habakkuk 2:2
[xvii] Psalm 46 Be quiet and know that I am God.
