Word to the Wise
Tuesday, August 23, 2016 - Tuesday in the 21th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Thess 2:1-3a, 14-17 and Matt 23:23-26]May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word. [2 Thessalonians]
AUGUST 23 ST. ROSE OF LIMA, O.P.
For much of the 1990's I served on the "council" of our Dominican province, a kind of "cabinet" to our provincial superior. When the head honcho of all the Dominican friars, whom we call the "Master of the Order," came on an official visit (which we call "visitation"), I was expected to be present with the other council members to greet him on his arrival. He was a wonderful Englishman named Timothy Radcliffe, OP. He told a story that I have never forgotten. He was speaking of a former saintly Master of the Order named Hyacinthe Cormier. Cormier once said that the purpose of a visitation is "to encourage, to encourage, to encourage."
I find that much of my preaching ministry centers on encouragement. The same was certainly true during my campus ministry days (and now when I am able to meet students where I live). One of the first Christian communities that St. Paul had founded in Greece was at Thessalonika. He was very fond of them and wrote two letters that have survived. Much of the contents of the two letters is meant to encourage the community in the face of opposition, persecution and false preachers. The words quoted above speak to the encouragement that Christ offers. Sometimes that encouragement comes simply because we have faith when all else is falling apart around us. There is where we find the grace of God. However, we can offer that encouragement to others wen we know they can use it just as we can. It is a ministry of mercy and care. AMEN
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