Word to the Wise
Thursday, September 12, 2019 - Thursday in the 23th Week in Ordinary Time
[Col 3:12-17 and Luke 6:27-38]Put on, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if one has a grievance against another; as the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also do. And over all these put on love, that is, the bond of perfection. And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one Body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. [Colossians]
St. Paul's exhortation to the community in Colossae is a beautiful pep talk on Christian community and family life. It should be inscribed not only in writing but in hearts and minds! However, lest it seem too rosy, the gospel passage from the Gospel According to Luke, taken from his version of the beatitudes, is a reminder of how challenging Christian faith and life can be. Loving one's enemies requires a true conversion! St. Paul also echoes something from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew) or the Plain (Luke) when he says, "...as the Lord has given you, so must you also do." That is an echo from the Lord's Prayer!
Another feature of St. Paul's exhortation concerns the "word of Christ." That word was just beginning to be put into writing in St. Paul's time. But there were already many oral transmissions. In our time, however, we have the Bible - both the Old and New Testaments - to provide us with that word. Catholic tradition outside the Bible is rich, especially in devotional resources, but all of that tradition must be rooted in the scriptures which have been termed the "rule that rules other rules" (norma normans). If we Catholics could learn to think of ourselves more in scriptural terms in the midst of all our "Catholic" things, we will gain tremendously. The wisdom of Christ could "dwell in us richly!" AMEN