For you know how one must imitate us. For we did not act in a disorderly way among you, nor did we eat food received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you.
2 Thessalonians 3:7-8
Piety
Jesus, loving friend of all people, bring our faith to a deeper level than just sloganeering and thought-provoking bumper stickers. While we do need some easy to remember passages to “know the way, go the way, show the way,” help us to use these to reform and transform our lives in ways that live up to the piety, study and action that you require in each of us.
We know that You are the Model. Help us to imitate You, night and day, through our hard work and toil to make your Kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven. Deliver us from evil and grant us peace today. Amen.
Study
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/083006.shtml
If the end of the world is upon us, then why not eat dessert first? In essence, why not collect your reward before – or even without – any work involved?
St. Paul warns against this kind of behavior. In his day, because some people already thought that the “second coming” was at hand, that they did not have to work. This kind of “lazy” behavior was shunned and warned against in 2 Thessalonians. For you know how one must imitate us.
According to the popular hymn, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.” The principle of active love of the poor and the weak as preached in Matthew 25 – working for the common good – springs forth from society and is described in the Acts of the Apostles.
Instead of begging for food until the end of the world, the disciples instead taught that society should be based upon each working according to their ability and providing to those according to their need. So the weak would be provided for by the work of those who were more able. As we read in Acts 2: 42-47:
They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them among all according to each one's need.
Acts 4:32-35 goes on to describe the lifestyle of the day.
The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common. With great power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great favor was accorded them all. There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need.
Those who had the ability would work hard, night and day, in order not to be a burden and to provide for those in the community who were weak, sick, frail or elderly. Even kings of the day were measured by how they would care for the “anawim,” the widows, orphans, the poor and the stranger.
Driven by the love of God, Jesus, through the words written by St. Paul, challenges us to imitate His active love. Rev. Fred Kammer, S.J. writes in Doing Faithjustice (an introductory book in the JustFaith class) that this was Jesus’ driving passion. God was no longer remote like in ancient Hebrew society, but walked among us. Our challenge is to recognize that and aid those least among us who are made in God’s image.
Jesus understands God’s Will by taking his listeners back to the first chapter of Genesis: to the goodness and giftedness of the earth; to stewardship of creation; to a creation-sharing community in which God dwells; and to personal responsibility for the little ones.[1]
We see this prophesy rooted in Isaiah 42:1-4.
Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen one with whom I am pleased, Upon whom I have put my spirit; he shall bring forth justice to the nations,
Not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the street.
A bruised reed he shall not break, and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
Until he establishes justice on the earth; the coastlands will wait for his teaching.
It is then fulfilled in Jesus as he begins his public ministry in Luke 4:18-19.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.
Action
The responsibility to fulfill this mission of active love falls to all of us. We must be true to its call. St. Matthew relates Jesus’ harsh words for the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. As the notes in the NAB point out:
While the tradition of a deep opposition between Jesus and the Pharisees is well founded, this speech reflects an opposition that goes beyond that of Jesus' ministry and must be seen as expressing the bitter conflict between Pharisaic Judaism and the church of Matthew at the time when the gospel was composed...The evangelist discerns in his church many of the same faults that he finds in its opponents and warns his fellow Christians to look to their own conduct and attitudes.[2]
Is there a message to us in today’s Gospel? What is Matthew saying to us about the commitment and consistency of our action? Can we escape the charge of hypocrisy and evil-doing while thousands die of hunger every day? Can we fulfill our inherent moral obligation – and the strategic self-interest it also provides for rich nations like ours – to end poverty as we know it and make the world safer and more prosperous for all?
[1] Kammer, Fred, SJ. Doing Faithjustice. New York: Paulist Press, 2004. Page 61
[2] http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew23.htm#foot1
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