Word to the Wise
Saturday, June 9, 2018 - Sat. after 2nd Sunday after Pentecost - The Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary
[2 Tim 4:1-8 and Luke 2:41-51]I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths. But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry. [2 Timothy]
THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY [celebrated on the second Saturday after Pentecost]
Years ago I was serving on the "council" of my Dominican province when the Master of the Order [our head honcho] came to do an official "visitation." All of us council members traveled to greet him at his first stop, a priory in Raleigh, NC. I remember him quoting a long past Master of the Order (St. Hyacinth Cormier) as saying the purpose of a visitation is "to encourage, to encourage, to encourage." Those words come to my mind as I reflect on the "encouragement" in the lines from the Second Letter to Timothy, quoted above. They amount to a pep talk, but would be appropriate with any group of ministers in the church in any age.
St. Paul was amazed and appalled when he went to Athens and saw all the various shrines that catered to different religious beliefs, including an "altar to an unknown god!" [Acts 17:16-34] Now all the Athenians as well as the foreigners residing there used their time for nothing else but telling or hearing something new. There are times when I wonder if anything has changed for us since then, when someone approaches me at Mass with the latest "Catholic" novelty, whether it be a weeping statue or a bleeding host or apparition or whatever! Yet, the only appropriate response is to encourage folks to re-focus on the central truths of Catholic Christian faith and sacramental life and love of God and neighbor as the real source of growth in faith. Timothy is urged to focus on his ministry and try to preach the truth in the midst of all kinds of strange or distorted beliefs. We are urged to do the same. The First Letter of Peter puts it well: Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence.... A little bit of encouragement goes a long way. AMEN