Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
by Rev. Joe McCloskey, S.J.
But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun of justice with its healing rays. Malachi 3:20
You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives. Luke 21:17-19
PietyPrayer to the Holy Spirit
Breathe into me, Holy Spirit,
that my thoughts may all be holy.
Move in me, Holy Spirit,
that my work, too, may be holy.
Attract my heart, Holy Spirit,
that I may love only what is holy.
Strengthen me, Holy Spirit,
that I may defend all that is holy.
Protect me, Holy Spirit,
that I may always be holy.
http://www.usccb.org/nab/111807.shtml
Even the most beautiful creations of the human race will come to an end. There is nothing that is made that will stand the test of time. The ultimate skeptic is a holy person. Only God will last. The message of God through his son gives us in the human form of Christ the most complete expression of the mystery of God. Christ is the way, the truth and the light that must shine on our lives. Looking beyond the appearances of his humanness gives us the clue to whom we are. Created in the image and the likeness of God through our connection with Christ we are born again by virtue of our Baptism. We are called by Christ to find the truth of ourselves in Christ. Looking at Christ with the eyes of our soul we find the attraction of grace is the call to live our lives with the Christ of each other. There is not a hair on our head that will be lost because our perseverance in Christ will secure all that we are for heaven. Our weakness is where the strength of God shows itself. With Paul we can rejoice in our weakness because that is where the strength of God will show itself in our lives.
Paul challenges us to live our lives just like he did. He presents himself as a model to be imitated. Each of the saints brings us the wonder of Christ because each is an update of Christ in their effort to live their lives like him in their day and age. A saint captures what is truly beautiful in life by their relationship to Christ. The challenge to love our enemies is all too often missed by good meaning people in their harshness to those who do not face life as they do. Would be saints do more harm to the good they are trying to do by the anger of their resistance to what is wrong about life. They become as bad as those they are reacting against. They bring people who are on their side into opposition to themselves because they do not know how to love.
Minding the business of others can be done in a loving way. Working quietly is an art form of living one’s life close to Jesus.
Piety, study and action bring us closer and closer to Christ. The Spirituality of the Cursillo shares the companionship of Christ with all our friends without exception. A permanent group reunion can become an obstacle to g race when it puts walls between itself and the Christ of the stranger that would be part of our little Mystical Body of Christ.
The embrace from the cross is for everyone and the doors of our hearts have to be open to each person who comes into our lives. Cursillo is more than rules and regulations. It is a forever lesson on how to walk with Christ by walking with each other. Each of us is unique before God and it is the sharing of that uniqueness that gives us the Christ of each other. God does not make clones of Christ. Our “specialness” before God is in the uniqueness of how we share Christ.
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