He Who Has Not

Monday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time C-2

Entrance Antiphon Cf. Sir 36: 18 Give peace, O Lord, to those who wait for you, that your prophets be found true. Hear the prayers of your servant, and of your people Israel.

Collect Look upon us, O God, Creator and ruler of all things, and, that we may feel the working of your mercy, grant that we may serve you with all our heart. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

Scripture today: Proverbs 3:27-34; Responsorial Psalm: 15:2-5; Luke 8:16-18

No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him." (Luke 8:16-18)

He Who Has Not I once read an eye-witness account of the death of a Satanist. The man was in hospital and he was clearly drawing near the end of his life. He had his Satanist coat in his wardrobe and was being visited by a fervent Catholic layman who subsequently published an account. The Catholic sensed the presence of evil in the room and began praying to the Holy Trinity, to Our Lady, to St Michael and the angels and saints, that the man might be freed from his profound attachment to the demonic. The man had but a couple of days to live and his visitor kept up his prayers unremittingly, while staying in touch with his Jesuit spiritual director and with prayer-group friends in his parish. At a certain point the patient began to be especially agitated, and his face began to show torment. The prayers were intensified, but the torment increased and suddenly special burn marks appeared on the forehead of the dying patient. The nurses were horrified at what they saw. It seemed as if the demonic was crushing its hapless adherent, who soon after died in awful distress. His visitor kept up his prayers for the deceased, trusting that due to the prayers, mercy would have been shown him. The case surely illustrates that usually as we live so shall we die. Of course, we cannot pin God down to any necessary rule of action, and his powerful mercy springs surprises. Nevertheless, death is the supreme moment of life, and the harvest of life is usually reaped at death. In large measure we shall perform at a test in the measure that we have prepared for it. In like manner, we must expect that we shall perform at the test of death in the measure that we have prepared for it by our life. If a car is speeding towards a precipice, it is to be expected that it will fall into the precipice once it is reached. When Christ announced the doctrine of the Eucharist at Capernaum, he warned the Twelve that one of them was a devil (John 6: 70-71). But despite the warning, Judas continued on his course. At the Last Supper, there was a final warning, but to no avail. Satan entered into him, and it was night (John 13: 26-27).

In our Gospel today, our Lord makes a sombre revelation. It is that “Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him" (Luke 8:16-18). A widow is nearly ninety years of age. She has had several children. From her earliest years she has been prayerful, has submitted with all her heart to the teaching of the Church and made it the rule of her life. She loves the Eucharistic Jesus, and at her advanced age still goes to daily Mass unfailingly. She receives the Sacrament of Penance regularly. All she wants for her children is that they cope properly with life and above all live faithfully according to their Catholic faith. That is to say, she has the faith and she has kept it. The days, the weeks and the months pass, and her life-long religious practice seems to grow. It is unthinkable to those who know her that she would ever fail in it. She has, and it appears that she is being given more. By contrast, there are others in her own locality who have gradually dropped the practice of their faith, and it has slipped out of their lives like running water through the fingers of a person’s hand. What they once had has passed away from them. Is it to be expected that it will be regained? It could be, and the prayers of others for this intention are needed. We must pray for ourselves and for those most in need of the mercy of God. But our Lord’s warning is ominous. He says that “whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.” It seems that those who do not have are rendering themselves helpless — and so they depend enormously on the prayers and the spiritual help of others. There is a wonderful prayer that is now usually said at the end of each decade of the Rosary. “O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and bring all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of your divine mercy.” We ought pray for all, especially those most in need of the mercy of God. His mercy and power are unlimited, and this is our hope in the thought of those “who do not have.”

When Christ was importuned by the Canaanite woman to heal her daughter, he told his disciples that his mission was to the lost sheep of the House of Israel (Matthew 15: 24). There were sheep that were lost, and his mission was to reclaim them. When criticized by the scribes and Pharisees for dining with publicans and sinners, he replied that he was sent to the sick. The thought of damnation is a terrible thought, and Christ spoke of it often. The course of life prepares for the moment of death. While God alone plumbs the soul, still, as we die, so shall our eternity be. Let us so live as to be ready for the Lord when he comes, and let us pray for those who forget this.

(E.J.Tyler)

--------------------