Every year, the Church commemorates the anticipation of, and then the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus through its celebration of the different liturgical seasons, what we call the liturgical year. Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB writes in her book, The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life, that “[e]ach church year moves with measured rhythm in order to knit Jesus’ life and vision into our own personal journeys through time” (p. 210). Throughout this month of October, we continue to celebrate the liturgical season of Ordinary Time, a time, which, according to Sr. Joan, specifically invites us to “grow into” and “grow through” the “meanings and messages” of what we hear and learn throughout the year (p. 211).
So, what are the messages of this month of October? What can we learn? On October 5, we hear from the prophet Habakkuk that “the vision still has its time…if it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late.” The following Sunday, October 12, in the reading from the Second Book of Kings, we learn that Naaman, the Aramean military official, after he is cured of leprosy, says that “[n]ow I know there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel.” On October 19th we are encouraged by Jesus, in the parable of the persistent widow found in the gospel of Luke, to “pray always without becoming weary”. And finally, on October 26th, we hear Jesus tell his disciples the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, also in Luke’s gospel, reminding them that “…for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Hope, praise, prayer, and humility are some of the messages from the readings of this month, messages which can help us to grow in our faith as Catholic Christians. What do you think? By the way, you can always find lots of material to help you prepare for the Sunday readings at liturgy.slu.edu.
Do you want to learn about the Catholic beginnings of Halloween? See the short article on the EWTN website (bit.ly/VaticanHalloween) about what is now a blockbuster holiday in our society.
We observe the feast of St. Luke the Evangelist on October 18th. This liturgical year is Year C, the year in which readings from Luke’s gospel are used on many Sundays throughout the year. You can read an informative article about St. Luke on the Encyclopedia Britannica website, bit.ly/LukeBritannica. There is a longer and more comprehensive treatment of St. Luke (biography, his writings, etc.) in the 1913 online edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia, found at bit.ly/NewAdventLuke. (This article is somewhat dated, however, and the current edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia is not available online.) Was St. Luke an apostle or a disciple of Jesus? Read Fr. Derk Schudde’s explanation of these two terms on the Diocese of Orlando’s website (bit.ly/ApostleDisciple) and decide for yourself.
The Season of Creation comes to an end on October 4th, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. For a refresher on the meaning of the season, see its website: seasonofcreation.org. If you are looking for a way to have an impact on the local climate change scene, go to the website for Energize Franklin (community.massenergize.org/FranklinMA); this organization is always looking for volunteers.
BACK TO LIST