The Bounty of the Lord in our Lives

In the first reading, Philippians 2: 12-18, St. Paul is writing from his prison cell, filled with joy as he anticipates being martyred for the faith.  He is encouraging the Philippians to continue working out their salvation in the Lord Jesus. He asked them to do God's work without "grumbling or questioning."  Recall a time in your life when nothing was too much for those you love--nothing was too much for the Lord! May you and I have the courage to continue doing what we are called to do, as husbands/wives, parents/grandparents, employers or employees, members of a parish, a civic community  or a religious community.  "[B]e blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world, as you  hold onto the word of life [Jesus Christ].... ...[E]ven if I am poured out as a libation upon the sacrificial service of your faith [martyred], I rejoice and share my joy with all of you. In the same way you also should rejoice and share your joy with me [and with each other]."

As in the case of the Philippians, we, too, live "in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation."  Living honestly and morally,  doing what is right for all peoples, I believe, is at an all-time low in the U.S. and likely throughout the world of the 21st century.  Do you, do I, "shine like lights" in this world or are we part of the darkness?  Are we colluders with those spreading darkness in the world of asylum seekers, persons fleeing corrupt and violent dictators in their own native countries? Are we in collusion with those hating others because of their skin color or their sexual orientation or because they practice a faith  other than our own?  Are we among those spreading messages of hopelessness or do we, in the words of the responsorial psalm, "believe that we shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living. [Are we waiting] for the Lord with courage...; [are we] stouthearted"?  Are we ourselves persons whose goodness, honesty, love, and faith bring others to proclaim: I have seen/experienced  "the bounty o the Lord" today? If not, why not? And if not, what behaviors/attitudes do I, do you need to change?

Compassion and Forgiveness: God's Saving Gifts

In today’s first reading, Ephesians 4: 32-5:8, Paul states clearly what the Lord asks of us, namely, to be compassionate and forgiving of others as God is of us.  We are asked to imitate Jesus, who gave his life for us. For whom am I giving my life today? Whom will I uplift today through my acts of love and forgiveness? Will I be a source of strength, hope and love for others today or will I burden others today by attitudes of selfishness, stinginess and disdain or  by deceitful ways and speech, through gossip and the like?  Paul goes on to say: “Immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is fitting among holy ones, no obscenity or silly or suggestive talk, which is out of place, but instead, thanksgiving.”  Just in case we do not get it, he says furthermore: “No immoral or impure or greedy person, that is, an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.”

My thoughts immediately went to what we witness during the campaigns for presidency of the U.S.  But that, in itself, draws Paul’s rebuke, as am  I not  engaging in silly talk about our politicians. Am I not then being divisive, looking at a “them versus us” categorization?   Is such talk not dragging others down to the level to which I lowered myself? Today’s Scripture opens with the invitation to be “kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God  has forgiven you in Christ.”  My thoughts then would be: “Lord, forgive me my trespasses as I forgive others theirs.”  I would, like the republican in Sunday’s Gospel, be saying to the Lord: “O God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18: 14). 

May you and I heed Paul’s admonitions and follow the way that truly leads us to the “inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God,” that Jesus won for us by His death on the cross for our salvation and salvation of the entire world, including the politicians of today and forever!