Word to the Wise
Monday, October 25, 2010 - Monday in the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
[Ephesians 4:32 - 5:8 and Luke 13:10-17]Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma. Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is fitting among the holy ones, no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place, but instead, thanksgiving.....[Ephesians]
One might wonder if St. Paul envisioned daily Christian life as one constant round of "being nice" and never losing one's temper or cussing or gossiping or being greedy, etc.. Well.....? Maybe we should try that vision some day, some would think! Life in our own time is not too much different from that of St. Paul when it comes to human faults and failings! Furthermore, the temptation to cynicism is a terrible one and inevitably results in a negative attitude toward the possibility of true goodness and integrity in human beings! This is basically an assertion that God's assessment of humanity at the time of Noah, before the flood, was the right one (Genesis 6:5-8) then and the right one NOW! What St. Paul tries to do, sometimes in a rather blunt way, is to encourage the faithful to be exactly that - faithful! Our faults and failings run the gamut from minor grumpiness to murderous intentions. We can drown in our own limitations if we do not have encouragement to rise above them, as we are challenged to do in the Sermon on the Mount. Not only that, we need to encourage one another and not just wait till we hear St. Paul or the gospels read at the liturgy! I think this is what St. Paul is trying to do: to encourage others to encourage others! We all need the support of one another to live a good Christian life. AMEN
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