The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, the World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation, invite us to contemplate the gratitude we experience as we witness the Love of God in action on our journey.
Witness to Love
The reading from the Letter to the Colossians thanks God for the Colossians.
* [1:3–8] On thanksgiving at the start of a letter, see note on Rom 1:8. The apostle, recalling his own prayers for them and the good report about them he has received (Col 1:3–4), congratulates the Colossians upon their acceptance of Christ and their faithful efforts to live the gospel (Col 3:6–8). To encourage them he mentions the success of the gospel elsewhere (Col 1:6) and assures them that his knowledge of their community is accurate, since he has been in personal contact with Epaphras (Col 1:7–8), who likely had evangelized Colossae and other cities in the Lycus Valley of Asia Minor (cf. Col 4:12, 13; Phlm 23). On faith, love, and hope (Col 1:4, 5, 8), see note on 1 Cor 13:13; cf. 1 Thes 1:3; 5:8.1
Psalm 52 declares our thanksgiving in the conclusion to God’s judgement on the deceitful.
* [52:10] Like an olive tree: the righteous will flourish in the house of God like a well-watered olive tree, cf. Ps 92:14; 128:3.2
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus performs healings at Simon’s House and preaches in the synagogues.
* [4:44] In the synagogues of Judea: instead of Judea, which is the best reading of the manuscript tradition, the Byzantine text tradition and other manuscripts read “Galilee,” a reading that harmonizes Luke with Mt 4:23 and Mk 1:39. Up to this point Luke has spoken only of a ministry of Jesus in Galilee. Luke may be using Judea to refer to the land of Israel, the territory of the Jews, and not to a specific portion of it.3
David Crawford attests that an attitude of gratitude is much more pleasant than a complaining, worrisome one, even more so when it brings us closer to God.
My purpose is not to emphasize the difficulties I faced, but to share how present God was in a trying situation. My intent is to heed the psalmist’s direction to thank God for all that was done, and to proclaim God’s goodness to the faithful (you readers). God provided all we needed, sometimes before we knew we needed it. I know that I can trust in God’s mercy forever. So, let me leave you with a couple of action items. First, continue to pray for others. I am convinced that prayer works, and it also is uplifting to know that others care for you in that way. Second, be open to the Spirit’s prompting to call or write someone, to drop off some food or run an errand, to be an agent of God’s mercy.4
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." (excerpt from HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MARK 75.1)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Colossians 1:1-8 comments that Paul could call them holy and faithful for one clear reason: "Christ in you, the hope for glory” (Colossians 1:27). Jesus, the holy and faithful one, lived in them. Despite their struggles with sin, their incomplete understanding, and their need to grow in love, Jesus was at work within them. By the power of the Spirit, he was making them holy and helping them to be faithful. If they cooperated with the Spirit, their lives would reflect the gift they had already received.
This month, our articles focus on this mystery—that the all-holy God dwells in "earthen vessels” like us (2 Corinthians 4:7). If we are willing, Jesus can make us holy and faithful. Let’s spend a few minutes with him each day in prayer. Let’s marvel that the one who formed the universe lives in our hearts. And let’s yield to him by being faithful to the tasks before us and by loving the people he has placed in our lives. "Lord, make me more like you today.”6
Friar Jude Winkler notes that Colossians, like Ephesians, contain different theology than that of Paul in the letters known to be authored by him. Great Hymns of thanksgiving are included in the generic letters. Friar Jude reminds us that the demons, spiritual creatures, may have declared Jesus, Son of God, as the Messiah.
James Finley shares how he first encountered the work of Thomas Merton (1915–1968) and how it changed the course of his life.
I’d knock on his door, and he was always writing a book and he would sit and listen and talk, and it leveled the playing field for me, really, just absolutely in terms of compassion. And then [opened up by] that compassion, I told him about my desire for God. . . . Then he told me, he said, “Once in a while, you’ll find somebody to talk to about this, but they’re hard to find. They’re really hard to find.” And he said, “The purpose of this place is, it is a place meant to protect, to preserve, and cultivate this radical desire, as a charism in the world.” And then he offered me guidance in my own prayer.7
Sharing our gratitude, today for Creation, for the action of the Love of God may kindle life changes as the Spirit uses us to transform those we encounter on our journey.
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