Disciplined decision to drop our masks

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today use the theme of discipline in our actions toward others and in our journey with Jesus to drop our masks and reflect Love to others.

Strive to connect

The Letter to the Ephesians offers household instructions to the community for relations with others.

6.1 Children, obey your parents [in the Lord], for this is right.

In the Gospel from Luke, Jesus urges us to make sincere efforts to follow the Way.

* [13:22–30] These sayings of Jesus follow in Luke upon the parables of the kingdom (Lk 13:18–21) and stress that great effort is required for entrance into the kingdom (Lk 13:24) and that there is an urgency to accept the present opportunity to enter because the narrow door will not remain open indefinitely (Lk 13:25). Lying behind the sayings is the rejection of Jesus and his message by his Jewish contemporaries (Lk 13:26) whose places at table in the kingdom will be taken by Gentiles from the four corners of the world (Lk 13:29). Those called last (the Gentiles) will precede those to whom the invitation to enter was first extended (the Jews). See also Lk 14:15–24.

Larry Gillick, S.J. urges us to enjoy the life-long process of de-costuming and living our sainthood.

Jesus’ reply to the one asking about being saved is wondering if he/she is carrying enough accreditation and self-affirming actions. Jesus images a “narrow Gate” through which only the costumeless, the stripped can pass through. Those who obtained their identity from what they did, would be unknown by the Master. They are pictured by Jesus as knocking on the door like Trick-or Treaters and the Master would say twice, that He did not know where they were from.

The Living Space commentary on Luke 13:22-30 reminds us that each day and all days of our lives we have to walk through that narrow door, that door of faith and trust and love for Jesus and our brothers and sisters.

It is vital that we, as Catholics, do not think that, simply on the basis of our membership of our Church, we are somehow on an inside track and that, if the worst came to the worst, we could always get a confession or a final anointing to set things straight. That would be very presumptuous and very dangerous on our part. We could very well be in a position to hear those terrible words, “I do not know who you are”.

Don Schwager quotes “To enter the narrow door”, by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).

"'Wide is the door, and broad the way that brings down many to destruction.' What are we to understand by its broadness? ...A stubborn mind will not bow to the yoke of the law [the commandments of God]. This life is cursed and relaxed in all carelessness. Thrusting from it the divine law and completely unmindful of the sacred commandments, wealth, vices, scorn, pride and the empty imagination of earthly pride spring from it. Those who would enter in by the narrow door must withdraw from all these things, be with Christ and keep the festival with him." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 99)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Ephesians 6:1-9 notes that the Letter to the Ephesians was written during a period when at least one out of every three people in the Roman Empire was a slave.

In his work with the church in Ephesus, Paul never endorsed slavery nor advocated its overthrow. He had a different objective: to enlighten everyone about the fundamental dignity of every human person. Since both slave and master “have a Master in heaven,” they are equal in status before the Lord (Ephesians 6:9). So Paul directed slaves to see themselves as children and heirs of God and to do their work as if for the Lord. Because it was proclaimed to both masters and slaves, this new perspective opened the way to an eventual rethinking of the institution of slavery—even as it gave oppressed slaves an immediate sense of dignity and purpose.

Friar Jude Winkler comments on the household instructions for children noting mutual obligations between parents and children. The author does not question slavery. This connects to Stoic teaching that everyone has a place in the world and we are called to obedience. Friar Jude urges us to strive. It will cost us. It is not easy to enter the narrow gate.

Stoic Donald Robertson shares some notes on passages in the Stoic literature that appear to question, or possibly even condemn as vicious, the practice of slave-owning.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, observes that Jesus taught us what God is like through his words, his actions, his very being, making it clear that “God is love” (1 John 4:8,16). If God is Trinity and Jesus is the face of God, then it is indeed a benevolent universe—at its very core.

The brilliant Jewish philosopher, Emmanuel Lévinas (1906-1995), said the only thing that really converts people, the ultimate moral imperative, is “the face of the other.” He developed this concept at great length and with great persuasion. [1] When we receive and empathize with the face of the other (especially the suffering face), it leads to transformation of our whole being. It creates a moral demand on our heart that is far more compelling than the Ten Commandments. Just giving people commandments on tablets of stone doesn’t change the heart. It may steel the will, but it doesn’t soften the heart like a personal encounter can.
So many Christian mystics talk about seeing the divine face or falling in love with the face of Jesus. I think that’s why Clare of Assisi (1194-1253) often used the image of “mirroring” in her writings. We are mirrored not by concepts, but by faces delighting in us, giving us the face we can’t give to ourselves. And, of course, the ultimate and perfect mirror is the face of God.

The face of God that brings us to experience Love in the depth of our biological being is the light we may reflect to others as we drop the masks of living in our own “All Hallows’ Eve” and decide to be disciplined on our journey to be saints.

References

(n.d.). Ephesians, chapter 6 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved October 31, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/ephesians/6
(n.d.). Luke, chapter 13 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved October 31, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/13
(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved October 31, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
(n.d.). Living Space Wednesday of week 30 of Ordinary Time – Gospel .... Retrieved October 31, 2018, from https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o2304g/
(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved October 31, 2018, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
(2018, October 31). 30th Week in Ordinary Time - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily .... Retrieved October 31, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/2018/10/31/
(2017, November 5). Did Stoicism Condemn Slavery? | How to Think Like a Roman Emperor. Retrieved October 31, 2018, from https://donaldrobertson.name/2017/11/05/did-stoicism-condemn-slavery
(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved October 31, 2018, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/