More than pragmatism

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge our modern need for answers and rules for success. The household instructions which are presented to the Ephesians today are directed to obligations within families and in the organization of work under slavery. Friar Jude Winkler alludes to the importance of mutual obligation in Stoic thinking of this time. The author of Ephesians goes beyond the pragmatic philosophy to encourage us to love others and treat them as Jesus would. Contemporary writers argue not only that Christianity contains Stoic thought but that this philosophy is very appropriate for Western society today which may find itself in similar political situations to Greece and Rome at the time of Jesus. The mystery of God and the disappointment we experience in not being able to get a straight answer from God are reflections of Diane Jorgensen from the Gospel of Luke today. Our pragmatic approach too often settles for less. Living with the love, compassion, charity and forgiveness of Jesus, which has no limit, is living in faith that the journey is not measured in accomplishments and quantity of good deeds but in the daily decisions to follow Him.