Thursday, September 12, 2013

Thursday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

(Colossians 3:12-17; Luke 6:27-38)

In yesterday’s mass the gospel reading began Jesus’ great sermon.  Many think of that sermon being delivered on a mountain because that is setting in the longer, more demonstrative version of the Gospel according to Matthew.  In Luke’s gospel, however, from which we hear these days, mountains are reserved for Jesus’ communion with the Father.  The third gospel describes the plain as the place of encounter between Jesus and other humans.

Jesus is addressing his disciples when he says that they should turn the other cheek and lend to those who have never given them anything.  In other words, he is telling them not to react to others but to be proactive like God in treating them kindly.  There is a story of a man who lived by the sea and every morning would throw the starfish marooned on the beach back into the water.  Why did he bother to save a few starfish?  Conscious of it or not, he did it in fulfillment of Jesus’ command to be proactive in treating others with kindness.

In the great sermon Jesus lays out the oral form of his New Law.  To be sure, it is impossible to uphold this law under the condition of original sin.  But Christ has afforded us the Holy Spirit, the essence of the New Law, who enables us to do the impossible. 

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Wednesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

(Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 6:20-26)

“Nine-eleven” – there is no greater date of infamy in the minds of most Americans than today.  Twelve years ago their nation was traumatized by viewing a jet passenger plane ram into a New York skyscraper and later seeing that building crumble like an avalanche.  The experience invited rage and begged revenge – what the reading from Colossians today tells Christians to avoid. 

Colossians describes the Christian mystery of being a new creation amid a passing world.  It urges the faithful to leave behind inordinate passions and to live in Christ’s peace.  It reminds them that in him no one or no group has higher status, but all share equal dignity as brothers and sisters of the same family.

Most Americans have lost the sense of outrage over the attacks twelve years ago although some whose husbands or children died in the attacks may still feel enraged.  Neither sentiment is adequate.  We should not be forgetful or seething.  Rather as Christ would have it, let us pray for the dead, those they have left behind, and indeed the perpetrators of the crime.  Let us live the reality that we are in Christ so that the whole world may find peace in him.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Tuesday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

(Colossians 2:6-15; Luke 6:12-19)

The Coptic Christians in Egypt are said to be tattooed in childhood with the sign of the cross.  The mark not only brands them for Christ among the Muslim majority, it also reminds them of their salvation.

The reading from the Letter to the Colossians today charts the dimensions of that salvation.  Our selfish desires are buried through our participation in the cross by means of Baptism.  Its power also raises us up to live in the world as free men and women attracting others to Christ.  Any debt that we owed because of past sins the cross of Jesus pays in full through the blood of the cross.  Finally, it subdues the powers of evil that might allure us from the path of righteousness.

We may not want to be tattooed, but we are wise to keep an image of the cross before us.  Could anyone claim that a Christian who lays a crucifix on her desk at work is imposing her religion on others?   Could not a cross or crucifix be found to accommodate any decor or style of household furnishings?  Of course, the concern of somehow offending others or even good taste is hardly what keeps us from retaining a cross before us.  The real issue is whether or not we want to be dominated by the one we call “Lord” who hung upon the cross.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Memorial of St. Peter Claver, priest

(Colossians 1:24-2:3; Luke 6:6-11)

St. Peter Claver lived most of his life in Cartagena, Columbia, where he took care of the slaves recently imported from Africa.  Practicing his medical skills on the Africans, he exhausted himself trying to meet their needs.  Biographers mention that he died almost isolated from his Jesuit brothers, so radical was his dedication to the slaves.  His story makes an ample relief for the passage from the Letter to the Colossians.

The words read today might perk up a half- deaf person’s attention.  “In my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his Body, which is the Church,…”  Is the author claiming that there is something deficient about Christ’s passion and death that the Church needs additional sacrifice?  Hardly! What Paul, the presumed author although many scholars today express reservations, means is that the message of Christ’s redemption must be carried to the world by his preaching which includes suffering as a witness to its truth. 

Of course, the need to “fill up what is lacking in the affliction of Christ…” is not limited to Paul or to early Christianity.  Rather it is renewed in every era, in every society.  We too have to suffer patiently so that others may know of Christ’s salvation of the world.  We too carry his message to the world by taking pains to care for others.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Friday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

(Colossians 1:15-20; Luke 5:33-39)

Pope Francis has asked everyone in the world to fast and pray tomorrow (Saturday) for peace.  His immediate motive is the civil war in Syria which continues to take a terrible toll of life and welfare.  The conflict pits not only the government against a large segment of the population but also the dominant Muslim faction against religious minorities such as Christians.  Already there are over one and a half million Syrian refugees outside the country with millions more displaced within. 

It is only right to ask how Christ can be called the “fullness” of life and “peace” as heard in the first reading today from the Letter to the Colossians when such atrocities as the Syrian war occur with frequency.  Of course, the world often chooses not to follow Christ thus bringing on itself the dreadful consequences reported daily in the media.  More importantly, however, Christ is present today working in myriad ways not least of which are good people’s efforts which Pope Francis is pleading to become organized and directed.

Christians traditionally fast by not eating between meals and taking meat once a day.  Such an effort tomorrow together with concerted prayer – the Eucharist if possible – will change us into more peaceful people.  It will also prompt the war-makers to take stock of their options in search of non-violent means to realize their goals.