Word to the Wise
Saturday, October 11, 2014 - Saturday in the 27th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gal 3:22-29 and Luke 11:27-28]For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [Galatians]
These words from St. Paul about what our baptism accomplishes could be revolutionary if we took them seriously enough. As it was, in St. Paul's time, they would not have been accepted as normative in ordinary life. The society of his time was very class-conscious, and things have not changed much, even in our western "democratic" way of living! We are still conscious of things like race, income, power, etc. In short, discrimination lives and for some reason we can say, "Yeah, yeah, we're all equal before God, but not before one another!"
Recent events in our own country have shown that race remains a critical issue in our social fabric. Does Christian faith have anything to say to this? The problem of economic disparity between rich and poor is the subject of multiple media commentaries. Does Christian faith have anything to say to this? The problem of power, reflected in election financing and voting restrictions, is the subject of Supreme Court decisions as I write this. Does Christian faith have anything to say to this? The challenge of immigration to our country shows fear of "the other." Does Christian faith have anything to say to this. Does our baptism mean anything more than a ceremony of initiation? What does St. Paul say to us in our own time? AMEN
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