Word to the Wise
Saturday, September 3, 2016 - Saturday in the 22th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Cor 4:6b-15 and Luke 6:1-5]Who confers distinction upon you? What do you possess that you have not received? But if you have received it, why are you boasting as if you did not receive it? [1 Corinthians]
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2016 ST. GREGORY THE GREAT, pope
There is no such thing as a "self-made person." I know it is an old term to designate a person who has achieved a certain status because of his or her willingness to work for it and not rely on others for help. But every single person who has ever lived is in debt to God for life.
The first scripture of the day for the last several days and for several days more is from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians. A couple of days ago we saw how he took them to task for their factionalism because of their divided loyalties based on the preacher who baptized them, or whose preaching attracted them. (It would be like Catholics who say, "I am for John Paul, or Benedict, or Francis.") In today's passage, we hear him attack the spiritual/social pride of the Corinthians who seemed to think that their baptism and identity as Christians made them "better" than others. It may be that these new Christians brought existing social distinctions with them into the community. Paul reminds them that no such distinctions exist for a believer. Everyone received the same Spirit.
I think the "privatizing" of religious belief in this country and elsewhere has led to forgetting those who share our faith but not our wealth. The social justice teachings of the church are the least known of our very rich tradition. We can see an example of this in the Gospel of Luke when Jesus tells the parable of the Tax Collector and the Pharisee who go to the temple to pray. [Luke 18:10] The Pharisee begins his prayer, "I thank you, God, that I am not like the rest of men!" This is not the "attitude of gratitude" that a Christian should adopt. The Pharisee considered himself to be a self-made man. The tax collector only asked for mercy. It was the latter who was justified. We will hear more from St. Paul on this problem of spiritual pride which leads to injustice. For now, it is enough to realize that we are not self-made and we are always in need of mercy! AMEN
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