Accompanying Him

September 19, 2008

Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Corinthians 15:20

Afterward he journeyed from one town and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. Accompanying him were the Twelve and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their resources. Luke 8:1-3

Piety

Blessed are those who are on the move, transforming exodus and flight in energy for a new search. From the victims will come the protagonists of history.
Blessed are those who, forced to wander without direction, with wisdom learn and teach the lessons of the road. They will be the architects of a new time.
Blessed are those who suffer pain, nostalgia and loneliness, yet know how to make of every arrival a new beginning. They shall act with faith, hope and life.
Blessed are those who open borders and mix the anthems, flags, races and creeds. Without discrimination, they make the world everyone's home.
Blessed the wayfarers of all roads in the tears, sweat and the work of their hands. They prepare a tomorrow of justice and right.
Blessed are those who open the door to pilgrims, making solidarity the passport to our common homeland. They are constructing a new citizenship.
Blessed are those who foment encounters and re-encounters, sowing peace. They will harvest flowers and stars in the new heaven and the new earth.
Blessed are the excluded, without opportunities and without voice. They will be the first guests in the great banquet, where bread will not be lacking on anyone's table.

(By Fr. José Alfredo Goncalves, Brazil
From Prayer Without Borders,
Celebrating Global Wisdom,
© 2004, Catholic Relief Services)

Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/091908.shtml

How involved are you in the life of Jesus and his work for the church? Yesterday, we saw how sinners like St. Paul who had persecuted the church and the former prostitute who anointed Jesus’ feet turned away from their former life and became involved with Jesus and the mission of the church.

Today, we need to turn that question on ourselves. While we started the week meditating on the Cross, today, let us consider our cross. Are we willing to carry it?

St. Paul tells the Corinthians that the Church revolves around the resurrection. But he uses an interesting image – first fruits. The resurrection is the end. It is the beginning. Until the rest of the harvest is reaped, the Church will not be fulfilled. The “firstfruits” are the portion of the harvest which is offered in thanksgiving to God. This offertory implies the consecration of the entire harvest to come. As the notes in the New American Bible explain, “Christ's resurrection is not an end in itself; its finality lies in the whole harvest, ourselves.”

Its finality lies in the whole harvest. That means us. Sinful, distracted us. The reality of Christ's resurrection in both human and cosmic dimensions logically and necessarily involves ours as well. We can’t just be involved on the periphery. We have to be committed.

The letter to the Corinthians from Paul is paired with Luke’s description of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus is pictured on the move – as an itinerant preacher traveling with a dozen friends who help him preaching. But the company does not end there. Also integral to the party are the Galilean women who are sustaining them out of their own time, talents and treasures. They never walk away. They never deny Jesus. They never betray Jesus. Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna are among those specifically mentioned. They will accompany Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem. They will witness his death on the cross. They will be the first to visit his tomb and testify about the resurrection.

History teaches that this inclusive association of women with the ministry of Jesus is most unusual in the light of the attitude of first-century Palestinian Judaism toward women. The more common attitude is expressed in John 4:27 when the apostles challenge Jesus even speaking with the woman at the well. Jesus rejects that attitude and instead offers living water to her. He wants her – and he wants you and I – involved in his work. In return, the woman at the well turns her life over to Jesus as well. Are you, too, ready to turn your life over to him?

Action

Studying a reading like this forces us to confront the role of women in our church…a role which has likely caused a lot of love to spread. Yet the hunger of many women for a greater sacramental role in the ministry is limited and that has caused a lot of pain.

Think about those people who have most affected your faith journey. Chances are the “firstfruits” of faith offered to us also came from women -- our mothers, grandmothers, and wives; our sisters, school teachers, and nuns – roles also mostly filled by women as well.

They served in silence, stoic examples to those in their families, their neighborhoods and their communities. Yet the fullness of their participation in the ministries of the church has always been limited. Yet, like the quiet women of Galilee, that never stopped them.

So today, offer thanks to the Galilean women in your life for accompanying you.