Growing into healing

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today lead us from immature separation into factions to contemplation of the mysteries that reveal our role in Divine interaction with people.

Care in dialogue

Paul exhorts his audience to be open to the Holy Spirit in guiding the Role of God’s Ministers in the First Letter to the Corinthians.

* [3:1] Spiritual people…fleshly people: Paul employs two clusters of concepts and terms to distinguish what later theology will call the “natural” and the “supernatural.” (1) The natural person (1 Cor 2:14) is one whose existence, perceptions, and behavior are determined by purely natural principles, the psychē (1 Cor 2:14) and the sarx (flesh, a biblical term that connotes creatureliness, 1 Cor 3:1, 3). Such persons are only infants (1 Cor 3:1); they remain on a purely human level (anthrōpoi, 1 Cor 3:4). (2) On the other hand, they are called to be animated by a higher principle, the pneuma, God’s spirit. They are to become spiritual (pneumatikoi, 1 Cor 3:1) and mature (1 Cor 2:6) in their perceptions and behavior (cf. Gal 5:16–26). The culmination of existence in the Spirit is described in 1 Cor 15:44–49.

The Gospel of Luke shows Jesus reaction to rejection is compassion brought to life in healing of body and spirit.

* [4:42] They tried to prevent him from leaving them: the reaction of these strangers in Capernaum is presented in contrast to the reactions of those in his hometown who rejected him (Lk 4:28–30).

Edward Morse finds that today’s gospel reflects the story of one of the behind-the-scenes workers, Simon’s mother-in-law.

When she is stricken with illness, Jesus delivers healing through his word.  Her response is simple and profound – she returns to what, presumably, she had been doing before – preparing food and serving those around her.  Isn’t that a sure sign of the completeness of her healing? Aren’t we blessed to know people like this, who orient their lives toward doing what is needful, without calling attention to themselves?  This is surely a sign of maturity that we would do well to emulate.

Don Schwager quotes Jesus the Chief Physician, by Jerome (347-420 AD).

"'Now Simon's mother-in-law was kept in her bed sick with a fever.' May Christ come to our house and enter in and by his command cure the fever of our sins. Each one of us is sick with a fever. Whenever I give way to anger, I have a fever. There are as many fevers as there are faults and vices. Let us beg the apostles to intercede for us with Jesus, that he may come to us and touch our hand. If he does so, at once our fever is gone. He is an excellent physician and truly the chief Physician. Moses is a physician. Isaiah is a physician. All the saints are physicians, but he is the chief Physician."

The Word Among Us Meditation on 1 Corinthians 3:1-9 notes that over the centuries, the Church has been built upon the work of beloved saints, but also upon the efforts of countless unsung heroes.

Your work can seem inconsequential, but St. Paul has an answer to that: “Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:7). Even when you are doing “mundane” work, God is at work with you. He is behind the scenes, pouring out his grace and blessing. He is blessing you for your faithfulness, and he is blessing the people you are caring for. It’s not all about what you do; it’s also about what God does, hidden, in the hearts of the people around you.

Friar Jude Winkler shares that the Corinthians addressed by Paul don't know the depths of the mysteries of God. An example is factions in the community and the use of slogans and us against them positioning. Friar Jude concludes that our discipleship in Jesus is a journey and it is our obligation to share the Gospel in actions rather than words most of the time to avoid polemic.

Roger Nicole, an author on a website on Monergism, discusses Polemic Theology and How to Deal with Those Who Differ from Us. (the Monergism interpretation has not found favour with the Roman Catholic or Orthodox Churches, which have remained firmly synergistic.)

A Christian who carries on discussions with those who differ should not be subject to the psychology of the boxing ring where the contestants are bent upon demolishing one another. Rather “The Lord’s servant must not quarrel: instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses . . . ” (2 Tim. 2:24-26).

Dan Horan, OFM, suggests three factors that operate concurrently throughout Francis’s interreligious encounter with the sultan that form the foundation of what we might today call “Franciscan interreligious dialogue”.

These three factors are as follows:
The radical adhering to the evangelical value of solidarity
The preferential option for the discovery of common faith
The position of minority rooted in a commitment to lifelong conversion
(Horan, 2014, p181)

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that Barbara Holmes continues exploring the forgotten gifts of early Christianity, particularly from its African legacies. We are in need of those values central to African monasticism and early Christian hospitality; they include communal relationships, humility, and compassion.

Laura Swan sums up these virtues in the word apatheia, defined as “a mature mindfulness, a grounded sensitivity, and a keen attention to one’s inner world as well as to the world in which one has journeyed.” [3] Inevitably, the journey takes each of us in different directions; however, by virtue of circumstances or choice, each of us will at some point in our lives find ourselves on the outskirts of society listening to the silence coming from within. During these times, we realize that contemplation is a destination as well as a practice. The monastics knew this and valued both.

Methods that enable us to learn of the experience of revelation in our Christian community help to foster compassion and healing in our relationships with others.

References

(n.d.). 1 Corinthians chapter 3 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved September 5, 2018, from http://usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/3
(n.d.). Luke chapter 4 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved September 5, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/luke/4:38
(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved September 5, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved September 5, 2018, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/
(n.d.). 22nd Week in Ordinary Time - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily .... Retrieved September 5, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
Horan,D. (2014) The Franciscan Heart of Thomas Merton. Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave Maria Press
(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archive - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved September 5, 2018, from https://cac.org/richard-rohr/daily-meditations/daily-meditations-archive/
(n.d.). The Forgotten Desert Mothers - Laura Swan : PaulistPress. Retrieved September 5, 2018, from http://www.paulistpress.com/Products/4016-0/the-forgotten-desert-mothers.aspx