Tension to tell everyone

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today contain the tension between the difficult choices for evangelists and believers. The Gospel of Luke presents the Beatitudes. In Luke the "woes" are included. We suffer from complacency. We are hesitant about full commitment. Luke advises that love of our comfort, emotional peace and excellent reputation may be obstacles to facing the changes we are invited or need to make to "put to death... whatever in you is earthy" as Paul exhorts the Colossians. Paul evangelizes from a position of a deep experience of intimacy with God through Jesus which has opened to him the great gap between the life in earthy values and the life in Christ where the great yearning of the human soul for the time when there is no longer "Greek and Jew... slave and free but Christ is all in all." This blessed or happy state is obviously yet to reach fruition. Early Christians believed this "New Jerusalem" was imminent. The blockage in our lives which keeps us from celebration of our poverty of pride and position and our hunger for transcendent community of people and God which can help to close the gap in our personal choices. The tension of doing this in a timely fashion brings us, like the psalmist, to the realization that the power for these changes is Divine power and our entrance to that realm begins in praise and thanksgiving. 

The apostolic mission

The texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary present the announcement to the Jews and Gentiles of the twelve who would be apostles with special missions to bring Jesus to the world. The "Apostle to the Gentles", Paul, who was missing from the group in Luke's Gospel because he came to a personal relationship with Jesus after the Resurrection, is the inspiration of the Letter to the Colossians which outlines, in today's passage, the reality and the direction of life in intimate relationship with Jesus. This life will be abounding in thanksgiving for knowledge of the whole fullness of Deity that dwells bodily in Christ. The promise of this relationship is that we were buried with him in baptism,  and we are also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. The message to those who would follow Jesus is that the new healed life is life in Jesus. The apostolic mission is to live life as demonstration of this healing communion to which all are invited and from which the disciples draw life.

Compelled to heal

The confident assertion of the psalmist in the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today that "on God rests my deliverance...honor... refuge" is the truth that compels Paul to continue to struggle and suffer as he proclaims to the Colossians the commission he has to make the word of God fully known. The Gospel from Luke presents Jesus decision to make the will of the Father fully known in the synagogue where the more politically correct choice may have been to avoid demonstration of the transcendent Presence which would contradict the authority of the Pharisees. The disciple who hears and incorporates the good news is compelled to proclaim through the actions of daily life the relationship with the Divine to which all are invited. The value of this relationship is greater than human concerns about "place" or power as Paul asserts he is bringing knowledge of God's mystery, Christ, in whom is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In the words of a popular hymn "How can I keep from singing?"

Love does no wrong to a neighbor

The brief passage from the letter of Paul to the Romans in the Roman Catholic Lectionary today states the summary of our obligation to one another as love. "Love is the fulfilling of the Law". (Romans 13:14). The Prophet Ezekiel hears from God the instruction to be a sentinel for the community and to warn the wicked to turn from their ways. Fr Larry Gillick SJ reminds us of the quilt we can experience when we do not act the warn the wicked as Ezekiel is directed to do.  Our reluctance to correct others is the opportunity to pause and prepare to do so in love. Just as the mission of physical healing acts through human physicians, the ministry of correcting our brothers and sisters can act through an understanding of human sensitivity. We are required to support the community through correction of error and at the same time put love as the primary action we have with one another. Correction in love is a blessing to both parties. The tension between the warning of the psalmist to "listen to his voice" and "harden not your heart" and the requirement to be Eucharist, compassion and mercy to the errant one is real and needs prayerful attention. Father Larry warns us that the error we might see in others may be a reflection of how that person trips our own sense of "how things should be done". Our personal sense can be influenced by our own errant ways. The one who is endangering the community with his or her error will be seen by others in the community as needing correction too. The Gospel of Matthew provides a formula for the approach to the one who has sinned. The importance of bringing Jesus with you and the other is paramount for love to be the heart of the message. It is His promise and our experience that He is Present as the indwelling Spirit of people commune with the Spirit of God through Him. 

Where to look for guidance

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today present some options for those seeking holiness to consider. The path to deeper intimacy in relationship with the Divine is a journey where we can see ourselves as Paul, in the passage from the letter to the Colossians, sees those who were once estranged and hostile in mind. Relationship with Jesus has provided the power to continue "securely established and steadfast in the faith". This is a choice. Turning away from the relationship is an option when the self centered directions dominate our journey. The praise of the psalmist for God helper and upholder of our life points to the guidance we seek to remain faithful. The Gospel of Luke identifies Jesus as the Guide to the practices which lead to greater holiness.

The old is good

The text from the Gospel of Luke in the Roman Catholic Lectionary today concludes with the phrase "The old is good". The context of this message, with which those "of a certain age" are likely to agree, is a dialogue with the Pharisees in which the lack of observance of the fasting and praying rituals among Jesus disciples is noted. Jesus makes reference in this text to the time when he will no longer be with His disciples. The Presence of Jesus is celebrated by Paul in his address to the Colossians. He has come to Jesus as the person in whom "the fullness of God was pleased to dwell ". This understanding came to Paul in a process of the "new wine" of the conversion encounter on the road to Damascus becoming an intimate constant relationship with the Divine through Jesus and the resonance of the indwelling Spirit with the Spirit of God as the wine matures. The new patch of overwhelming awe in the deep intimate relationship with Presence becomes the old patch of being the apostle to the Gentiles and showing in human existence the possibility of communion with God praised by the psalmist as steadfast love that endures forever and faithfulness to all generations.

Fishers bring in the catch

The prayer and greeting of Paul to the Colossians in the text today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary outlines some of the aspects of discipleship taught by Jesus to the fishermen at the "lake of Gennesaret" in the passage from the Gospel of Luke. Paul describes lives worthy of the Lord as  bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, strength that comes from his glorious power, prepared to endure everything with patience and joyfully giving thanks to the Father. The fishermen who give their boat and their lives to Jesus are truly transformed. Some of the lifestyle of fishermen seems suited to the task of "fishing people". The strategic, patient repetition of the pattern of success bring the fruit of the catch ashore is a good fit. Practical, no nonsense and skeptical seem to be stereotypes which might suggest that these men would be the least likely to be instruments for drawing people closer in an intimate transcendent relationship with the Divine. The person seen in the eyes of God is not the person that human senses understand. Thank God!