Word to the Wise
Tuesday, June 9, 2009 - Tuesday in the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Corinthians 1:18-22 and Matthew 5:13-16]You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.
At the same time as we are beginning St. Paul's very personal Second Letter to the Corinthians, we are also beginning the Sermon on the Mount in the gospel scripture. My attention was drawn today to the above lines because they seem to be in tension with another line later on in the same gospel where Jesus condemns the Scribes and Pharisees and says,"All their works are performed to be seen!" (Matt. 23:5) Hmmmmm.....where does that leave us? Perhaps the translation itself comes to our aid in the use of the word, "performed." The "works" of the Pharisees are criticized for their calculation. The point of living out our faith in a manner that bears witness is not to draw attention to ourselves (although that will surely happen in this day and age), it is, as Jesus points out, to give glory to God. The power of good example is tremendous. I have met so many people who came to the church because of the good example of a family member or friend or neighbor, or even a chance encounter with someone on a plane! St. Paul's letter and the Sermon on the Mount both point out to us that our faith is not simply an interior, private, reality. It is meant to be expressed in our behavior toward God and neighbor. Devotion and social action are two sides of the same coin. They may have an interior expression (praying to God and for our neighbor) but they have an external reality as well: participation in the Eucharist and in actions that benefit humanity. As the old song says, "You can't have one without the other." AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
61 ms
4
