Friday, September 6, 2019


Friday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

(Colossians 1:15-20; Luke 5:33-39)

The novel All the Light We Cannot See won a Pulitzer Prize a few years ago.  It tells the story of perhaps the world’s greatest diamonds.  The jewel gets concealed in an intricate box for safekeeping during World War II.  The first reading today follows a similar story line.

The passage reveals how Jesus is God’s image on earth.  He created the universe, holds it together, and is bringing about its destiny.  He accomplishes the last objective by founding the Church.  This institution, which becomes like his avatar, gather people together from every race, nation, and language.  Yet Jesus Christ is almost hidden in history.  He is in a back-water part of a historically almost irrelevant nation.  He commands no armies and wins no military victories to manifest his power.

Christ is our secret and, at the same time, our glory.  Imitating his legacy in the gospels, we reflect his merciful power.  Growing ever closer to him by means of the sacraments, we prepare ourselves for eternal life.