Peacemakers Amid War

Gospel: Matthew 10: 34-11: 1

It is ironic that the message the disciples are to bring to towns and villages - "Peace be with you" - will be greeted by war and division.  The ministry of Jesus and that of the disciples is to proclaim peace, to bring the reconciliation of God to all peoples and all relationships. Yet, wherever this message goes it is greeted by opposition and rejection.  Sometimes this opposition causes the disciple to doubt and become discouraged at times in the midst of the work.

Yet, we recall that we began this journey with the Beatitudes, that we are called to be peacemakers, called to be merciful, meek, pure of heart, hungering for justice, empathetic, and patient in suffering and persecution.  The task of the disciple is not to engage in war and conflict at all.  It is to be about the deeds of mercy, the posture of meekness and empathy as we proclaim peace and work for justice in a world lacking ever so much in both.

We also recall the human propensity to prefer darkness to light, that the crowd voted for Barabbas and the path of revolution and violence over the person of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.  If such choices were made in those days it can be of no surprise that those same choices are made in our own day.  The task remains unchanged for us: we are to be about the Beatitudes, to proclaim peace and extend mercy as we make our way through the pilgrimage of our lives on earth. 

A Measuring Stick

Gospel: Matthew 13: 1-9

The Parable of the Sower is the only one where an explanation is provided afterward by Jesus.  All the other parables are left alone to be pondered and discerned.  It is likely that this parable too was originally like all the others, and that an explanatory note was added afterward.  The explanation of the parable can be seen as deterministic - that we are born a certain way with a certain outcome of our lives already preset.  But such is not the case.

The parable as it is provides us the opportunity for reflection and examination throughout our lives.  At this moment in my life, what is the state of my soul? At times we find ourselves choked off by thorns.  At other times we feel flashes of growth only to see it wither, while still other times we feel no growth at all.  We rejoice at the moments in life where we do sense real depth of progress.  And it may be that various parts of our spiritual life may be experiencing different things simultaneously.

The Parable of the Sower can then be used as a measuring stick to gauge our progress.  It is a parable for us to return to again and again to see if the Beatitudes have taken root in my life, if the flowers of mercy, meekness, purity of heart, peacemaking, righteousness, and patient suffering have emerged and grown.  God has generously strewn these seeds in the garden of our souls.  It is for us to continually check the garden for growth and progress. 

Acknowledgements

Gospel: Matthew 10: 24-33

What does it mean to "acknowledge Christ"?  We are told from the preachers that it means to assert faith in Christ, accepting him as our personal Lord and Savior.  The priests will tell us that to acknowledge Christ is to recite a creedal formula written and decreed by the approved theologians.  But the idea of such verbal assertions about an ethereal idea of a heavenly being or our abstractions about Jesus from the historical past seem hollow and unrealistic in the face of mounting body counts and victims of religion.

No.  To acknowledge Christ is not to participate in any of these stage performances.  Rather, to acknowledge Christ is to recognize the presence of Christ in another person, in all persons.  It is to regard others as another Christ and to treat them with dignity and respect, to extend mercy and care for them in feeding them, providing them drink, sheltering them, clothing them, visiting them in their sickness and imprisonment, and in welcoming them in all people.  

We can continue to engage in religion as playing house, i.e. in pretending to be real with our scripts, play acting, and fineries.  Or we can actually be in the house engaged in the real undertaking of the household.  The former is easy and requires little from us.  The latter is much more challenging, for it is the work of Jesus himself, who sat in the houses of others engaged in the needs people have - in healing them, liberating them from demons and fear, and nourishing body and soul.  This is to acknowledge Christ.