Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
(Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 16:1-8)
On a tour of the restored Pompeii the guide stopped in front
of a house to point out an adornment. It
was a statue of a man which, when the gate of the yard opened, exposed the
representation of a giant phallus. Unfortunately,
the stimulus for such crudeness did not die out with antiquity. St. Paul’s warning in the first reading today
is as valid now as two thousand years ago.
Paul urges his readers not to copy the ways of the pagan
majority. He sees the obsession with
fine dining and the ubiquitous references to sex in Greek society as
anti-Christ. Disciples of Jesus, he
would say, do not belong to such a realm.
According to Paul, their homeland is the kingdom of God which is still
to come in fullness. For now, he would advise
that they only comply with the law like mindful immigrants. In no way, he would say, should they accustom
themselves to the mores of the time.
Today, in part because of the success of Christianity to
humanize the world, we find many positive elements in secular society. We can actively participate in most social affairs
without undue worry of contamination. Indeed,
the Second Vatican Council promoted such engagement. It called on lay men and women to prepare the
world for the coming of God’s kingdom in its fullness.
