Word to the Wise
Tuesday, September 3, 2013 - Tuesday in the 22th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Thess 5:1-6, 9-11 and Luke 4:31-37]For God did not destine us for wrath, but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live together with him. Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do. [1 Thess.]
SEPTEMBER 3 ST. GREGORY THE GREAT [pope, doctor of the church]
These words should be on a sign at the door of every parish church! They really do sum up the purpose of a Christian community. They are not addressed only to the pastors but to everyone in the community! The individualism of our culture often has the impact of making one's relationship with God strictly private and "vertical." The outreach to one's "neighbor" can get lost in a gated community and confined to the "homeowners association." The second of the two "greatest commandments" - love of neighbor - is dissipated into a vague altruism.
One of the most difficult tasks in our church is to serve as pastor of a local parish! The rewards are great in terms of being a part of the lives of the parishioners, but the challenges are in that same area! Parishes can become hotbeds of factionalism and backbiting between "interest groups." Much of it can be traced to the human love of power. The pastor is imagined as someone with a power pie handing out slices to select groups or individuals. The possession of a key and access to a closet or locker can be magnified into a symbol of power! In the midst of all this, the charge from St. Paul to encourage and build up can suffer!
If St. Paul's "charge" is left only to pastors and is not seen as the common baptismal responsibility of all members of the parish, the results will be discouraging. If everyone joins in encouraging and building up, there will be a living, breathing Body of Christ! St. Paul offers a vision today of parish life. Are we courageous enough to accept it? AMEN