Slaves to Righteousness

October 25, 2007

Thursday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time

For just as you presented the parts of your bodies as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness for lawlessness, so now present them as slaves to righteousness for sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness. Romans 6:19-20

Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. Luke 12:51

Piety

Dear God,

You never said it would be easy. Please set us free from sin and division anyway. Enslave us to love and peace.

Thank you.

Tony D.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/102507.shtml

Jesus knows of what he spoke. Ask a group of Christians a probing question, and you’ll get different answers.

Ask about economic justice, and you may hear how the message to the rich young man does not apply to us.

Ask about settle your quarrel with your “brother” before standing before the altar, and you may hear how such bickering is justified.

Ask about liturgy, and you may hear how Vatican II got it all wrong or the Council of Trent.

Ask about music, and you will open a debate between the “Gather” book fans and the “Worship” book fans – Guitars versus Gregorian Chant.

Ask about consistent life issues, and you may be surprised that people don’t include euthanasia, the death penalty and war along with abortion.

That doesn’t even touch on the farm bill, immigration, assuring health care for poor children, international humanitarian aid, labor unions, and more. Yes…Jesus preached a challenging message…a message so challenging that 2007 years later, we still can not agree on what it really means.

Action

Jesus teaches us that peacemaking is hard work. It takes seeing our “enemy” as a human being. It takes the will to negotiate when the easy thing to do is fight back. It takes retiring the “an eye for an eye” mentality that slides into war. I have recently read an editorial in the National Catholic Reporter. I offer it to add to your reading and reflection. Think about its message of peace in light of today’s comments by Jesus in the Gospel.

http://ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2007d/101907/101907t.htm

What can we do today to bring more peace to our environment? Our family? Our school? Our workplace?

How can we break the bounds of slavery to sin and free our selves to love each other?