Thursday of the
Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
(Colossians 3:12-17; Luke 6:27-38)
Paper ghosts, witches, and skeletons have already invaded
department stores. Halloween decorations
can be purchased now for an event still seven weeks away! Children and
certainly some adults as well are wondering what costume they will put on. Today’s first reading suggests some articles
for Christians to wear. They are to be
put on not just on one day a year but every day.
The passage recommends that the Colossians “put on…heartfelt
compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” It means that they
are to practice the virtues of forbearance and love. In his Letter to the
Romans St. Paul says it even more poetically.
“Put on the Lord Jesus Christ…,” he says. He wants his readers to act
like Jesus day in and day out. If they
do not know how, they might check today’s gospel for instructions.
It has been said that it is easier to act yourself into a
new way of thinking than to think yourself into a new way of acting. In other words, if we wish to lose weight, it
is better to eat less and exercise more than to imagine ourselves as thin. Alternatively, if we wish to become like
Christ, we best stop judging others and pray for those who mistreat us.
