Like the Apostles, We Have Been Specially Chosen...

Like the apostles, we have been specially-chosen - do we appreciate it?



Oct. 30 - XXXI Sunday in Ordinary Time


Continuing his journey toward Jerusalem (both physically and metaphorically in the sense that the Messiah is destined to die in that city) , the Lord also continues to make himself increasingly unpopular with the religious leaders and all those who think and act like them. He puts his thought very bluntly: "Tell it like it is, lay down the law ... but don't be so extremely foolish as not to practice what you preach."


The First Reading could scarcely be more blunt: " O priests . . . you have turned aside from the way and have made many to falter by your instruction." These were the Old Testament priests but, unfortunately, the words of the Reading could be applied today and with even more force. Malachi is the last of the minor Hebrew prophets and we don't know his real name ("Malachi" means "my messenger") but his writing not only includes strong words of condemnation but also a prophecy that "people from one end of the world to the other will honor me" which we see as a foreshadowing of the Holy sacrifice. (The whole prophecy - less than three pages - is well worth reading)


Psalm 131, the Responsorial, is a beautiful prayer which we can copy out and make our own — "In you, Lord, I have found my peace." And where else, we might ask? It expresses in this context the correct attitude toward God and not the attitude of the Old Testament priests.


The second paragraph of the Second Reading expresses the correct nature of what is to be taught: "not a human word but, as it truly is, the word of God at work among you who believe." But St. Paul also makes clear what this effort cost him: "Working night and day in order not to burden any of you, we proclaimed to you the Gospel of God." It is precisely this effort and the intense prayer accompanying it that makes Paul's teaching effective. An exam of conscience: are my efforts to spread the good news of the Institute (or to share any good advice) preceded, accompanied and followed by prayer and sacrifice?


Finally, the Gospel is a species of "second and updated edition" of the first Reading. The Lord continues to make himself unpopular with the Powers that Be and he doubtless takes a side-glance at his own followers who probably have never got over the fact that THEY, of all people, unlettered and uncouth, have been chosen by this marvelous man from Nazareth. This can happen - and has happened - with the modern clergy. I recall my own experiences of being treated as a species of sage when the oils were still damp on my hands and I was far from skilled in theology or anything else. Fortunately I made no rash decisions and hoped the good people would not see just how ignorant I was. God bless all of them, now safe in Paradise forever and I hope I made it a little more pleasant for them!


~Concord October 2011