Word to the Wise
Monday, June 8, 2009 - Monday in the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Corinthians 1:1-7 and Matthew 5:1-12]Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of comopassion and the God of all encouragement, who encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God.
The Second Letter to the Corinthians is one of the most personal by St. Paul. We are given a profound view of all that his ministry meant to him and what he went through to accomplish his mission. For this reason, the word "encouragement" is particularly important. Over the next few days we will see why he and anyone else in his position would NEED encouragement! Some years ago, while I was still serving on the Provincial Council for the Southern Dominican Province, the head honcho of the Order (we call him the "Master of the Order), came for an official visit. He began his visit by asking all of us council members to meet with him. In his remarks he quoted Bl. Hyacinth Cormier, another Master of the Order, as saying that the purpose of a visitation is "to encourage, to encourage, to encourage." Those words found a strong resonance in me because I have considered my many years of campus ministry as basically one of encouraging students. The same was true in other ministries. It is a useful thing to try and recall when we last spoke an "encouraging word" to someone. It would be painful but also useful to recall when we last spoke a "discouraging word." As we learn of St. Paul's challenges over the next few days, we might recall our own needs of encouragement and how we might encourage others! AMEN
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