Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
(Romans
8:18-25; Luke 13:18-21)
Back in the
1960s there were a number of folk songs that expressed the futility of
creation. Peter, Paul and Mary sang of
the “Great Mandala” which keeps rotating through cycles of war and peace. The Kingston Trio popularized “Where Have All
the Flowers Gone?” which asks when will humanity learn to end war. In today first reading St. Paul tells
Christians not to give up hope for lasting peace. He expresses this peace as the redemption of
our bodies from death.
Paul begins
by noting how the world suffers. Not
just humans, he says, but all creation.
Yet Christians have the Holy Spirit which allows them to prefigure the
new creation. The palpable kindness,
love, and joy that are found in Christian communities assure that full
redemption is on the way. Meanwhile,
Christians carry on in hope that the day of redemption will come soon. Alternatively, hope assures Christians that
if the waiting continues, they will survive the trials.
Paul
probably expected the coming of Christ and full redemption long before the two
thousand years it has taken so far. But
this time – the “meantime” – has proven to be more than tolerable, even
enjoyable for many of us. It is the Spirit
moving us to help one another that allows us to rejoice in the midst of
suffering.
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