Word to the Wise
Thursday, August 2, 2018 - Thursday in the 17th Week in Ordinary Time
[Jer 18:1-6 and Matt 13:47-53]"Do you understand these things?" They answered, "Yes." And he replied, "Then every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old." [Matthew]
The discourse on the parables began much like the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus sits down and the disciples gather to hear the teacher. At the end of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus speaks of the person who listens and acts on Jesus' words as a person who builds a house on rock. The discourse on the parables ends with a "scribe instructed in the Kingdom of heaven" who can bring forth both the old and the new to serve the Kingdom. For the Gospel According to Matthew, the old is the Jewish tradition from which much of his audience came, but the "new" is the teaching that Jesus brings. The challenge is to do this with wisdom and faith.
Our church constantly faces that challenge. We have more than 2,000 years of tradition to call on, but we are constantly facing new situations undreamed of by our ancestors. The Second Vatican Council was called in large part to enable the church to use the best of tradition and forge new understandings with the help of the Holy Spirit. Jesus' teachings are the rock on which our faith rests. How to share them with faith and understanding remains our daily challenge, from Pope to "pewperson." AMEN