Unity in sin and justification

The psalmist in the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today praises God in the words “I am poor and needy, but the Lord takes thought for me”. (Psalm 40:17). This statement of solidarity of Yahweh with the poor and needy is understood by the homilist for the Irish Association of Catholic Priests as a unity of humanity through our heritage of sin from Adam. Friar Jude Winkler picks up this theme in his reflection on the passage today from the Letter to the Romans where Paul compares the sin of Adam, in which we are all participants, with the free gift of gracious reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ. This is certainly the personal experience of Paul who lived the transformation of his personal life from zealous Pharisee in vigourous persecution of those outside the Law to Apostle to the Gentiles. The Gospel from Luke is set, according to the ACP writer, in time when Christians were beginning to understand that the return of Jesus was not imminent. The instruction to be watchful slaves waiting for the Master to return in this parable of Jesus told by Luke is applicable to the final judgement, but perhaps more importantly, as noted by Friar Jude, to our death when we are greeted by Jesus. The Evangelist uses the technique of reversal of the expected throughout the Gospel. The image of the Master feeding and waiting on the slaves is food for contemplation. Jesus, the Suffering Servant of Isaiah and the Master who washes the feet of His disciples in the Gospel of John is the experience of unconditional Love offered freely without restriction of Law or Tradition. On another plane, this is an example of the humility of service to the poor and needy of the Psalm for people to act upon as believers in God. It may be literary exaggeration to catch our attention, as Friar Jude notes, Jesus later statement in the Gospel that slaves are not the master. The experience of Jesus in our lives gives us the faith that we live in the Mystery which makes all of the above subjects for contemplation.