Word to the Wise
Thursday, September 28, 2023 - Thursday in the 25th Week in Ordinary Time
[Hag 1:1-8 and Luke 9:7-9]"CONSIDER YOUR WAYS!" [Haggai]
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2023 THURSDAY IN THE 25TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME [Dominican Martyrs of Japan]
[Haggai 1:1-8 and Luke 9:7-9. Scriptures may vary at Dominican locations]
"CONSIDER YOUR WAYS!" [Haggai]
Haggai, the prophet, is challenging the inhabitants of Jerusalem who have returned from 70 years of exile to rebuild the temple of the Lord. He asks them why they were living in fine houses and there was no house of the Lord. His refrain is "Consider your ways!" That line is really the basic message of any great prophet. It was the challenge of John the Baptist, whom Herod had martyred because he [John] had challenged Herod's marriage to his own sister-in-law/niece. And now, Jesus' teaching is reaching his ears.
Prophets have a way of making people feel very uncomfortable, which may explain why so many prophets have met with lethal responses from those to whom they bring the message: CONSIDER YOUR WAYS! The whole Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel According to Matthew is basically a challenge to "Consider your ways!" The whole challenge of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is to "Consider your ways!" Sometimes, in our concern for what a friend or family member is doing, we have to sit down with them and tell them, "Consider your ways!" That message can be particularly disturbing when it reaches into our pet political/cultural biases and exposes them to the light of the gospel. Haggai, John the Baptist and Jesus continually challenge us to CONSIDER YOUR WAYS. Are we listening to and acting on that advice? AMEN