Doers of the Word

August 30, 2009

Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Rev. Joe McCloskey, S.J.

For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today? Deuteronomy 4:7-8

He summoned the crowd again and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile." Mark 7:4-5

Piety

“Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls.” Piety is the word of God planted in our hearts, forever calling us to be a good person. The word that has been planted in our hearts has the simplicity of saying “Do good and avoid evil.” The victory that Christ won over the realm of darkness inclines every heart to goodness whether one knows the commandments or has never heard of Christ. The human race has been redeemed by the life and the death of Jesus Christ. If one did not know of the commandments and wanted to be happy, such a one would have had to discover the commandments for oneself. Good people are always attractive in their goodness. Christ captures the essence of goodness in his Gospel story. His life puts words on the actions of goodness. To look at Christ is to touch the mystery of God’s love for us. Christ is the perfect expression of the love of God and the human race will never be able to improve on the piety of Christ. He led his life for the salvation of each of us. His love is God’s love for us. Human love has its divine significance in the life of Christ.

Study

We study the lives of Saints that we might know how to bring Christ into our time. Saints are the men and the women that have made Christ real by how they lived their lives. Religious communities are formed in the model of the founders who captured something of Christ that is unique in their charism and grace. Saints are transparencies of who Christ would have been in their time. They have tried to live a fullness of who they see Christ to have been in themselves. They come close to what Paul said of himself when he told us he no longer lived, but Christ lived in him. We study the law of God and give evidence of our wisdom and intelligence when we try to be faithful to the statutes of the Lord. When we live our lives following as close to the model of Christ and our saints as we can, we live in the presence of the Lord. Thus we become doers of the word. Thus there will come from our hearts good thoughts, chastity, fairness, gentleness, faithfulness, generosity, humility and goodness. Our good deeds will reveal us as faithful to the Lord.

Action

The word that has been planted in us is the word of truth that makes of us the first fruits of his creatures. When we are doers of his word we care for orphans and widows in their affliction and we keep ourselves unstained by the world. Our actions are much more than washing our hands. We look below the surface for what really counts. Observances for the sake of showing off are far from us. We honor God with or hearts and we keep Christ close to ourselves in all the memories of what he ever did. We try to imitate Christ by our actions and in our traditions. We would like people to realize that what they see about us is what we are. Our actions flow from our hearts. We are more than our actions as we take on the goodness of Christ by the good we do. Christ is the first of all the good people that would love God. We are Christ-like in our lives. We become Christ to our world.