The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to rise to the dignity of signs of the Presence of Christ in our environment as we live with compassion for others.
The Two Ways
The Letter to the Ephesians calls followers of Jesus to renounce pagan ways.
[5:1] Imitators of God: in forgiving (Eph 4:32) and in loving (as exhibited in how Christ loved us).1
Psalm 1 outlines the Two Ways from which we choose to live.
* [Psalm 1] A preface to the whole Book of Psalms, contrasting with striking similes the destiny of the good and the wicked. The Psalm views life as activity, as choosing either the good or the bad. Each “way” brings its inevitable consequences. The wise through their good actions will experience rootedness and life, and the wicked, rootlessness and death.2
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus heals a crippled woman.
* [13:10–17] The cure of the crippled woman on the sabbath and the controversy that results furnishes a parallel to an incident that will be reported by Luke in 14:1–6, the cure of the man with dropsy on the sabbath. A characteristic of Luke’s style is the juxtaposition of an incident that reveals Jesus’ concern for a man with an incident that reveals his concern for a woman; cf., e.g., Lk 7:11–17 and Lk 8:49–56.3
Mary Lee Brock wonders how many times she has behaved in a judgmental and condemning fashion exhibited by the synagogue leader. It is easy to agree to the clear instructions to live life as a good and honorable person, but it can be very difficult to put these values into action when we feel scared, challenged, threatened or depleted.
I ask God for the grace to turn away from the temptation of greed, idolatry and gossip. I pray for the gift of compassion, especially for those for whom I do not easily respond to with compassion. Knowing that God wants me to use my gifts in service to others, I ask God to help me know how I can best companion others. With God’s grace I now have new letters to live by: WWID: What Will I Do?4
Don Schwager quotes “Jesus overcomes death and destruction,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).
"The incarnation of the Word and his assumption of human nature took place for the overthrow of death, destruction and the envy harbored against us by the wicked Serpent, who was the first cause of evil. This plainly is proved to us by facts themselves. He set free the daughter of Abraham from her protracted sickness, calling out and saying, 'Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.' A speech most worthy of God, and full of supernatural power! With the royal inclination of his will, he drives away the disease. He also lays his hands upon her. It says that she immediately was made straight. It is now also possible to see that his holy flesh bore in it the power and activity of God. It was his own flesh, and not that of some other Son beside him, distinct and separate from him, as some most impiously imagine."(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 96)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 13:10-17 comments that Jesus knew that God’s law was never intended to bind us up. It was meant to provide boundaries that allow our freedom to flourish.
Like the Ephesians, it can be easy to forget this truth and fail to live like a child of God. This is why Paul’s exhortation is always valuable: remember what Jesus has already done in your life. This is not just a matter of willpower, of gritting teeth and pulling up bootstraps. It’s about seeing the face of Jesus turning toward you in whatever “infirmity” you’re facing—and believing him when he says to you, “You are set free.” “Holy Spirit, help me to live in the freedom of a child of God.”6
Friar Jude Winkler examines how our choice to live as called for in Ephesians makes us visible signs of the Love of God. Conversion is connected to our acceptance of the dignity to which we are called. Friar Jude reminds us that the Sabbath is a day to help others.
Cynthia Bourgeault comments that contrary to what most of the saints and mystics seem to imply, the stage of “union with God” is not a permanent state or a spiritual rank acquired. It has a beginning and an end. In “The Last Laugh” , by Thomas Keating, we are witnessing the end of a journey, as the final veil of separate selfhood—“self” consciousness itself—is drawn back to reveal at last the riddle of the true self.
Nowhere is my destination.
And no one is my identity.
My daily bread is powerlessness.
Temptations can be overwhelming.
Gone is every hope of help.
An abyss opens up within me.
I am falling, falling,
Plunging into non-existence.
Is this annihilation?
Or, is it the path to the Silent LoveThat we are?. . .7
We journey as people, sometimes crippled by our poor choices, who are invited to the dignity of imitators of God.
References
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