Word to the Wise
Monday, September 22, 2025 - Monday in the 25th Week in Ordinary Time
[Ezra 1:1-6 and Luke 8:16-18]"No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel or sets it under a bed; rather, he places it on a lampstand so that those who enter may see the light." [Luke]
The Gospel According to Luke was composed some 50 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. By then, the basic theme that the missionary church had distilled from its experience was "the kingdom of God." This "theme" can be seen as early in Luke's gospel as the canticles of Zechariah and Mary. God's mercy has been made evident in the incarnation of Jesus Christ who has come to inaugurate the KIngdom of God. The Holy Spirit came to enable the preaching of this message. By the time the gospel was composed, the missionaries had been at work for those 50 years. They had experienced the various receptions and rejections that the parable of the sower and the seed addressed. The gospel was composed to encourage them in the face of the rejections and hardships and persecution they were experiencing. But, if it weren't for their perseverance, I would not be writing this reflection!
It is easy to take our faith and its liturgical/sacramental practice for granted in our country. We can point to the church where we worship and to the Pope and Vatican City. But none of this would have been possible without the perseverance of the apostles, St. Paul, etc. and more than 2,000 years of others who risked their lives to bring the Good News to the world. They did not hide this message "under a bed," but continued to place it where it could be heard and seen in their lives. The message is not an abstract pious proclamation. It is proclaimed in flesh and blood by each of us living it wherever we are. The First Letter of Peter (3:15) puts it succinctly: "Always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is within you." Are we ready? AMEN