Word to the Wise
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - Tuesday in the 21th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Thess 2:1-8 and Matt 23:23-26]Our exhortation was not from delusion or impure motives, nor did it work through deception. But as we were judged worthy by God to be entrusted with the Gospel, that is how we speak, not as trying to please men bt rather God, who judges our hearts.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2018 ST. MONICA [Augustine's mom]
The Mediterranean world of St. Paul's day was an incredibly diverse reality. We can look at the list in the Acts of the Apostles at Pentecost [Acts 2:9-11] to gain some idea of it. What is amazing is that given the competition, Christianity rose out of it to become prominent! St. Paul's words to the Thessalonians show that he had worked very hard to bring that community together, not just by preaching but also by earning his own keep. He was a tent-maker by trade! [Acts 18:3]. His words in today's passage show that there were "competing" voices that tried to persuade in directions other than the "Gospel" that he preached. Some of them were swindlers or "moochers" and others people with a different faith. There was no printed "New Testament" to point to!
In our own time there are also competing voices! Some of them are "secular," such as consumerism or "New Age" [recognizable but hard to define] or "success." Some are political. Some of them are religious, reflecting different opinions about the faith and the message of Jesus! Within our own Catholic community there is considerable diversity, but we do have an authoritative voice that we call "the Magisterium" to sort out the diversity and identify what is compatible with the faith. We also have the words of St. Paul, the same words written to those Thessalonians two centuries ago!
For parents and friends who worry about loved ones following those "competing voices" we have today St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine! She prayed and cried her son back to Christianity! Don't give up! AMEN