Wednesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
(Ephesians 6:1-9; Luke 13:22-30)
A teacher used to tell her students, “We are not Ameri-cants;
we are all Ameri-cans.” More than
instilling patriotism, the teacher was encouraging the children to work hard. She is supporting the American dream that
anyone can achieve her or his life ambition with dedication to the project. In this light we should hear today’s first
reading.
Some are taken aback by the reading because it seems to
support the institution of slavery. This
is a cynical point of view. The passage
accepts slavery as a given in ancient society much like overconsumption of
fossil fuel is in our society. We may
not like it, but we have to deal with it.
Despite the situation, the reading implies, slaves can achieve salvation
by acquiescing to the non-sinful demands of their masters.
Often we are in a parallel situation as the slave. We have to comply with another’s command when
we do not want to. School teachers may
hate to correct papers. Research technicians
may dislike cleaning animal cages. We do
these kinds of things not just to keep our job, but also to maintain peace in
the work environment. In doing so, we
are also complying with the Lord’s will and meriting His commendation.
