The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite contemplation of the diverse people from all areas of human endeavour that contribute to the Life in the Body of Christ.
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| Gifts in the Body |
The reading from the Letter to the Romans identifies mutual love in sharing of God given gifts as marks of a true Christian.
* [12:6] Everyone has some gift that can be used for the benefit of the community. When the instruction on justification through faith is correctly grasped, the possessor of a gift will understand that it is not an instrument of self-aggrandizement. Possession of a gift is not an index to quality of faith. Rather, the gift is a challenge to faithful use.1
Psalm 131 is a song expressing quiet Trust in God using the image of an infant in the arms of the mother.
* [Psalm 131] A song of trust, in which the psalmist gives up self-sufficiency (Ps 131:1), like a babe enjoying the comfort of its mother’s lap (Ps 131:2), thus providing a model for Israel’s faith (Ps 131:3).2
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus uses the Parable of the Great Dinner to alert us to the unexpected quests in the Banquet of the Kingdom of Heaven.
* [14:15–24] The parable of the great dinner is a further illustration of the rejection by Israel, God’s chosen people, of Jesus’ invitation to share in the banquet in the kingdom and the extension of the invitation to other Jews whose identification as the poor, crippled, blind, and lame (Lk 14:21) classifies them among those who recognize their need for salvation, and to Gentiles (Lk 14:23). A similar parable is found in Mt 22:1–10.3
Luis Rodriguez, S.J. ponders that others are gifted to do some of the things he cannot do and how the members of the rich host’s household might have reacted when they saw the large room filled with strangers not of the same social class.
Without this kind of freedom one might try to be an expert at everything and become frustrated by negative results. Also, one might see others as competitors, instead of being grateful for their gifts, which I do not have to have… It was someone else’s invitation, not their own. They were challenged to be hosts to them “after the fact.” We may not have invited into our lives everyone we come in contact with, but we too are challenged to welcome them “after the fact.”4
Don Schwager asks are we ready to feast at the Lord's banquet table?. He quotes Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor who died for his faith under the Nazi persecution of Jews and Christians, who contrasted cheap grace and costly grace.
"Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves... the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance... grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate... Costly grace is the Gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life."5
Schwager comments that God lavishes his grace upon each one of us to draw us closer to himself and he invites each of us to his banquet that we may share more deeply in his joy.
An article entitled “Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Thomas Merton on Obedience” by William D. Apel resonates with our world situation today as we again encounter the Big Lie.
Merton gained approval for the publication of Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander. perhaps the most representative piece of his new writings. This work brought Merton the contemporary closer to Bonhoeffer the contemporary. Derived from his personal notebooks kept since 1956, Conjectures drew directly upon insights from Bonhoeffer's Ethics and his Letters and Papers from Prison. It reveals to us a transformed Merton. His years as a "petulant ascetic" had passed, and now his transformed obedience linked him in solidarity with movements for peace and justice throughout God's wider world.
In Conjectures. Merton quotes freely from Bonhoeffer. He bemoans what Bonhoeffer referred to as " the failure of reasonable people to perceive either the depths of evil or the depth of the holy."23 Merton continued, "We are living under a tyranny of untruth which confirms itself in power and establishes a more and more total control over men in proportion as they convince themselves they are resisting evil." 24 Noting the insanity of the nuclear arms race, the rampant violence in American society, its racism and brutal escalation of the war in Vietnam, Merton unmasked the "masquerade of evil" he identified in American militarism abroad and racism at home. In short, Merton had discovered Bonhoeffer's observation that most ·'reasonable people" would rather acquiesce in the "tyranny of untruth" than ask the hard questions that uncover the Lie.6
23. Merton, Conjectures 62.
24. Merton. Conjectures 68.
The Word Among Us Meditation on Romans 12:5-16 comments that Paul gives us some practical ideas about how to put love into action. The author zeros in on one of his suggestions: “Anticipate one another in showing honor” (Romans 12:10).
It isn’t always easy to compliment someone else, especially someone who rubs you the wrong way. But with a little bit of prayer and reflection, you’ll be able to find some admirable quality to point out. It’s a blessing for that person, and it’s a blessing for you too!
Honoring others takes our focus off ourselves. That’s what love in action looks like. So be on the lookout today. Is there someone you can lift up?7
Friar Jude Winkler observes how the charisms listed by Paul reveal how we all need each other in the Body of Christ. Be careful to embrace the invitation we have received. Friar Jude reminds us that “Catholics are not in like flint”… we cannot hold faith to self but we must invite others in.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Rev. Michael Dowd, an evidential mystic and eco-theologian who has earned the respect of Nobel laureate scientists, many religious leaders, and Fr. Richard. Michael and his science-writer wife, Connie Barlow, show how a sacred-science view of reality can inspire people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs to work together in service to a just and thriving future for all. Dowd writes:
An evidential worldview has become crucial. We now know that evolutionary and ecological processes are at the root of life and human culture. To disregard, to dishonor, these processes through our own determined ignorance and cultural/religious self-focus is an evil that will bring untold suffering to countless generations of our own kind and all our relations. We must denounce such a legacy. Ours is thus a call to . . . sacred activism. [Twenty-five] years ago, Carl Sagan both chided and encouraged us in this way:
How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, “This is better than we thought! The universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed.” . . . A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths. Sooner or later, such a religion will emerge. [1]8
The gifts in the Body of Christ are observed today in the usual commentators in this blog and in guests like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Thomas Merton, Carl Sagan, and Michael Dowd who offer insights into how we can act in mutual love using our gifts for the other.
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