Monday
of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Isaiah
1:10-17; Matthew 10:34-11:1)
One wall of the home was covered with crucifixes and
crosses. They were large and small;
wood, metal, and stone. Coming from
different parts of the world, they comprised a fascinating testimony of
Christian faith. Jesus likely would have taken notice. How would he have responded? Two things come to mind.
First, he would have cited Isaiah in today’s first
reading. He does so elsewhere in the
gospel of Matthew. He would have said
that it is not a display of crosses that he desires any more than God seeks “new
moons and festivals.” He wants people who
pursue righteousness in the way they live and justice for the vulnerable. In other words, he wants mechanics to charge
fair prices and hospitals to provide care to the poor.
Just as important, Jesus would have said, we have to
learn something from the crosses on the wall.
As Jesus bore his cross in obedience to the Father, so are we to bear
our crosses. The cross we take up may be
to love a difficult person with whom we work or live. It may be to follow the directives of health
care officials or even to accept contagion and isolation during this pandemic. However challenging it is, each of us must
carry her or his particular cross with patience.
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