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30 th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Stop wronging people and stop taking advantage of others. That is the first reading in a nutshell. Paul gives great credit to the Christians in Thessalonica. They are a model community. People from far away have commented on them. They turned from the worship of idols to serve the living and true God. It is amazing what an impact a worshipping community has on the local community. I will always remember the man who came to my office on Monday morning. He said that he wanted to know more about the Catholic faith. I asked him how he came to be in my office at all. He said that he drives along Convict Hill road every Sunday morning. He noticed that our parking lot was always full. He considered that something wonderful must be happening in our Church so he wanted to find out what that is. Just by showing up for worship we brought a stranger to the Church. We are just like the Thessalonians. Another one steps up to test Jesus. “Which commandment in the law is the greatest?” All of us Christian Pharisees would like to know that answer. If we could pin point what little we have to do to enter the Kingdom of Heaven we would all buy that app. Jesus is not interested in the observance of the Law. The observance of the Law is important but it is too constricting. In my own opinion what is lawful is not always what is just. We abide by the Law but we turn to God for greater clarity and understanding. Of course Jesus sets the bar very high. He responds with love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Oooh, that’s a hard one! What about the gray areas? What about the shade, the minute interpretation, the picking at it, the absolving of self, the pointing the finger at others? Jesus taught us to be led by the Spirit of God. Our world, our code of decency is not limited by the observance of the Law alone. There are noble virtues. There is going the extra mile. There is concern for those who are not one of us. There is heroic sacrifice. There is generous giving without expectation of return. There is compassion. Let us be warned that many Christians are Pharisees at heart. It makes life easy when we live by Laws and observances alone. We like a clear pathway to God. We like to calculate how many days we have to spend in Purgatory. We like to earn our way to God. Therefore we lack trust in God. We don’t really believe that He loves us that much. Calvary is lovely but is it enough to get me there. Look at the birds of the air. They do not sew nor weep. They do not worry. Yet, not even Solomon in all his regalia was arrayed like one of these.
With love, Fr. Pat
P.S. Thank you everyone for remembering me on my birthday. The cards and gifts were much appreciated.