Word to the Wise
Friday, August 29, 2014 - Friday in the 21th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Cor 1:17-25 and Mark 6:17-29]For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. [1 Cor.]
August 29 THE PASSION OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
St. Paul is speaking to the "scandal" of the cross! Early Christians found themselves on the defensive in speaking of Christ as someone who was crucified. That form of execution was reserved for the worst kind of criminal or rebel against Roman authority. How could a crucified person be considered the same as God? Jesus' resurrection would seem to be the respoonse to that, but the philosophers of the time in Greek communities simply scoffed at the idea. St. Paul presents it as a matter of the power of God which far surpasses human efforts.
John the Baptist suffered a similar fate. His terrible end at the hands of an enraged wife of Herod seems to contradict God's providential care. Yet John the Baptist lives on as one of the greatest prophets. Because his martyrdom and the martyrdom of the apostles was seen as a great witness to faith, some early Christians had to be restrained from choosing martyrdom willingly in order to experience the "weakness" of God! Martyrdom does still occur as can be seen in some of the violence in the Middle East and Africa shows, and the example of Archbishop Romero and the Jesuit and Maryknoll missionaries in Latin America demonstrates.
We do not think of the crucifixion much in the terms of a "scandal" but it does show how God can choose human weakness of overcome sin and help us to realize God's grace working through our own weaknesses. AMEN
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