Word to the Wise
Saturday, March 5, 2022 - Saturday after Ash Wed.
[Isa 58:9b-14 and Luke 5:27-32,297]"Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners!"
Jesus spoke these words in response to a criticism from the Pharisees and their scribes that he and his disciples would "eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners." It never fails to amaze me how rigid and righteous some Christians can become to the extent that they will even disown their own children because of objections to certain conduct. That may seem extreme but the lesser examples are still more common. Gavel-wielding Christianity (and we Catholics have our share of it) is a scandal to the example of Jesus' ministry! One of the more common examples is the question, "My son/daughter is getting married in a civil ceremony on a beach somewhere. Can I attend that?" My response is that attendance is not approval. Attendance is a sign of continued support and love for one's son/daughter even if the situation is irregular from a Catholic standpoint of view. We don't bring people to Christ by avoiding them or shunning them. Punitive Catholicism is a contradiction in terms.
Pastoral ministry is not confined to those of us who are ordained or "commissioned." Pastoral ministry is the duty of all the baptized. The manual for it is Jesus' own ministry in the gospels. That consideration should be at the forefront of all our efforts to preach the gospel and administer the sacraments. Shouting, punishing and grim disapproval are not the ways that Jesus demonstrated. HIs words, quoted at the beginning of this reflection, are the measure of our ministry. AMEN
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