Fragile and supported

The Roman Catholic Lectionary today offers texts which invite us to consider the way in which our lives as the fragile earthen vessels, described by Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians, show the death to self which is the path of the disciple of Jesus which Friar Jude Winkler comments plants the seed of Jesus Love in those with whom we have contact. The mission of evangelism happens as we trust in faith that we can surrender our self centeredness with the grace of Providence to bring about transformation in life. The areas of our need to deny self are many. The Gospel from Matthew today addresses the areas of lust and divorce. Friar Jude Winkler mentions the great spiritual author of the early Church, Origen, as one who fought the temptations of lust to lead us to self gratification by severe action. Friar Jude advises that the Gospel written by Matthew to a Jewish audience uses exaggeration to make a serious point. We begin the process of taking advantage of others for our own gratification long before the culture would accuse us of infidelity. The target or aim of the believer, as the exhortation from Paul declares, is to live in the direction of self denial and service to others. Our fragility, in earthen vessels, is the characteristic of our being which makes our dependence of the grace of God essential.