Today’s first reading is very timely. We have seen a lot of decorations and other preparations for Halloween – sometimes they can be quite frightening! We know as Catholics that All Hallows Eve is the beginning of the celebration of All Saints Day. The pagan influences in our society bring out darker and scarier images and stories, but this is important for us to think about too as people of faith. Today, people are tempted to believe only in what they can see, touch, smell, taste, or feel. People are tempted to think that God doesn’t exist because they can’t see Him or feel Him. On the other hand, we, as Christians, might forget that there are also evil beings out there: evil spirits, demons, etc. We forget that they exist because they are invisible. If we don’t protect ourselves from them though, they can take advantage of us and lead us to sin. The way our society celebrates Halloween reminds us that there really is evil out there, and that not only does it make us afraid, but it is also dangerous.
Monday of the Twenty-Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
What does the Christian journey look like after baptism? Receiving Grace is the beginning of a lifelong transformation. It is a transformation that God initiates, but one that we must consent to. Am I a disciple of Jesus Christ? What does that mean? What does that look like? How do I cooperate with grace?
MARIUS VICTORINUS:
Death is understood in two ways. The first is the familiar definition—when the soul is separated from the body at the end of life. The second is that, while abiding in that same body, the soul pursues the desires of the flesh and lives in sin.
Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
The call of St. Matthew is highly instructive about how we also can be effective witnesses to Jesus. St. Matthew was a tax collector and therefore considered dishonest. It is likely that even though he was involved in a trade that was shunned by society he was still a God-fearing man. We learn that after St. Matthew responds to Jesus’, he is at table in his home with Jesus and joined by many other tax collectors and sinners. These other people were probably friends or at least acquaintances of Matthew – they understood they were welcome in his home, and they understood that they would be able to receive healing from Jesus. St. Matthew played an important role in facilitating the work of Jesus. St. Matthew’s hospitality – though shunned by the pious – served the mission of Christ.