The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to seek the transformation of our gifts and talents as instruments of love and compassion acting with Jesus to heal our environment.
The reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians describes One Body with Many Members.
* [12:12–26] The image of a body is introduced to explain Christ’s relationship with believers (1 Cor 12:12). 1 Cor 12:13 applies this model to the church: by baptism all, despite diversity of ethnic or social origins, are integrated into one organism. 1 Cor 12:14–26 then develop the need for diversity of function among the parts of a body without threat to its unity.
* [12:27–30] Paul now applies the image again to the church as a whole and its members (1 Cor 12:27). The lists in 1 Cor 12:28–30 spell out the parallelism by specifying the diversity of functions found in the church (cf. Rom 12:6–8; Eph 4:11). (1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 100 proclaims that all Lands are summoned to Praise God.
* [Psalm 100] A hymn inviting the people to enter the Temple courts with thank offerings for the God who created them.
* [100:3] Although the people call on all the nations of the world to join in their hymn, they are conscious of being the chosen people of God. (Psalms, PSALM 100 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Luke Jesus raises the Widow’s Son at Nain.
* [7:11–17] In the previous incident Jesus’ power was displayed for a Gentile whose servant was dying; in this episode it is displayed toward a widowed mother whose only son has already died. Jesus’ power over death prepares for his reply to John’s disciples in Lk 7:22: “the dead are raised.” This resuscitation in alluding to the prophet Elijah’s resurrection of the only son of a widow of Zarephath (1 Kgs 17:17–24) leads to the reaction of the crowd: “A great prophet has arisen in our midst” (Lk 7:16). (Luke, CHAPTER 7 | USCCB, n.d.)
Sue Crawford comments that in the Western brain, the phrase “greatest gift” reconstructs the listing of the gifts right before as a hierarchy of gifts. “First” and “then” become markers of greater and lesser. However, this framework runs counter to the wisdom of seeing and rejoicing in all of the gifts of the spirit in ourselves and in our neighbors. The call to strive for “the greatest spiritual gifts” must have some other lesson to offer.
We can puzzle on the question of what other meanings “the greatest spiritual gifts” have for us today. The insight that comes to me echoes the fundamental lesson that I learned about vocation in my Jesuit studies with Creighton colleagues. In those conversations we pondered on the truth that our vocation is where our deepest passion meets the world's greatest need. This turns the emphasis of “greatest” to the service provided by the spiritual gift instead of the status of the gift. The greatest spiritual gift is the one that fits the purpose of your calling. This lesson removes the hierarchy and restores the equality of our gifts and callings. Let us eagerly strive to joyfully and gratefully employ our own unique spiritual gifts to serve the greatest needs in front of us today. (Crawford, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “The dead man who meets the Life and the Resurrection,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).
"The dead man was being buried, and many friends were conducting him to his tomb. Christ, the life and resurrection, meets him there. He is the Destroyer of death and of corruption. He is the One in whom we live and move and are (Acts 17:28). He is who has restored the nature of man to that which it originally was and has set free our death-fraught flesh from the bonds of death. He had mercy upon the woman, and that her tears might be stopped, he commanded saying, 'Weep not.' Immediately the cause of her weeping was done away."(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 36) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 7:11-17 that although, as Paul wrote, we do not grieve “like the rest, who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13), we still suffer deeply over the loss of our loved ones. Our hearts break over conversations we wish we could have had and experiences we can no longer share with them. Every fiber of our being protests that this is not the way life should be, and we grieve the way sin and death have infiltrated our world. So we cling to the hope we have in Christ’s resurrection, that death is not the final end. Yet it’s sometimes even more meaningful to remember that we are not alone in our grieving. Our Father grieves with us.
Your God is full of compassion. Just as Jesus saw the widow of Nain in her anguish, he sees you. He is not cold or distant; his heart aches with love for you. He doesn’t ask you to wipe the tears from your eyes. He is truly Emmanuel, God with us. He is with you in your joy and in your sorrow. And he is with you today.
“Thank you, Lord, that you never leave my side.” (Meditation on Luke 7:11-17, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler notes the challenge of Gnostic believers in claiming the superiority of spiritual gifts as he places glossolalia, unintelligible syllables of the Holy Spirit, at the bottom of gifts the Holy Spirit as perhaps serving self rather than serving the community. Friar Jude reminds us that Luke emphasizes the compassion of Jesus as He reanimates the son of the widow.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Rev. James Lawson (1928–2024), an influential teacher of nonviolence in the civil rights movement, who insists on the effective power of nonviolence.
There is no other way. It cannot be done with hatred. It can only be done by people who have compassion and awareness of their own lives in the light of creation. It cannot be done by insulting other people, cannot be done with the gun or the fist, cannot be done with bombs. We three-hundred-plus million people of the United States can be healed of our fears and our animosities, our hurts and our pains, but that can only happen if we adopt a nonviolent perspective, daring to put the issues on the table in front of us no matter the pain, walking through them and putting together the ethos and principles that can create in the United States a new earth and a new heaven. And I think if religion is valid, as I understand it for myself and for my family, I think religion must get out of the pews and become a movement for the moral, intellectual spirituality that can help us become the people that God has created us to be. (Rohr, n.d.)
We ponder the compassion that Jesus shows for the widow and invoke the Spirit to celebrate the lives and gifts of all those we encounter on our journey to deepen our empathy and mercy.
References
Crawford, S. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. OnlineMinistries. Retrieved September 17, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/091724.html
Luke, CHAPTER 7 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 17, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/7?11
Meditation on Luke 7:11-17. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved September 17, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/09/17/1074622/
1 Corinthians, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 17, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/12?12
Psalms, PSALM 100 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved September 17, 2024, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/100?1
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. Violence Begets Violence. Retrieved September 17, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/violence-begets-violence/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). The Lord Had Compassion on Her. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved September 17, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=sep17
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