August 26, 2009
Wednesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
As you know, we treated each one of you as a father treats his children, exhorting and encouraging you and insisting that you conduct yourselves as worthy of the God who calls you into his kingdom and glory. And for this reason we too give thanks to God unceasingly, that, in receiving the word of God from hearing us, you received not a human word but, as it truly is, the word of God, which is now at work in you who believe. 1 Thessalonians 2:11-13
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing. Matthew 23:27-28
Piety
Where can I hide from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee?
If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol, you are there too.
If I fly with the wings of dawn and alight beyond the sea,
Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light" --
Darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day. Darkness and light are but one.
(Psalm 139:7-12)
Study
From the time we were in kindergarten, we have been graded not just on how we perform in academic pursuits, but also in how we get along with others. To paraphrase a famous cliché: It’s not what you know but who you know.
Today, we have a chance to reflect upon how to have a proper relationship with those around us…and how to spoil those relationships by searching only for surface glory.
The reading from the letter to Thessalonica provides the jewel of wisdom for today and the Psalm gives the reason: “Conduct yourselves as worthy of the God who calls you into his kingdom and glory.” (1 Thess 2:12). The Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote on a similar theme in the book The Brothers Karamazov. The character in that book, Father Zossima advised: “Strive to love your neighbors actively and indefatigably. And the nearer you come to achieving this love, the more convinced you will become of the existence of God and the immortality of your soul.”
Why? As the Psalmist reminds us, God is present everywhere and knows our true nature even if we are distracted by external signs and symbols. There is no distant land to which we can flee and be away from the Lord. When we arrive there, God will be waiting for us. In fact, God will have travelled there with us. There is no dark night which will hide us. When the sun comes up, we will know that God has never left our side. Even during what St. John of the Cross terms “the dark night of the soul,” we feel estranged from God. Yet God is never estranged from us.
Action
Rather than focus on external signs and symbols, we should focus having a right and proper positive relationship with God; to nourish our inner spiritual life; and to use that relationship to motivate us to put love into action. It is easy and convenient to focus on the outward signs and not the hard work that the Gospel requires. Instead of seeking fans, we must seek the Lord where he can be found – in each other.
Dostoevsky also wrote: “Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared with love in dreams.” Love in dreams focuses on the external signs. But love in action calls on us to live among the lepers or the poor. Love in action calls on us to feed the hungry. Love in action requires us to give away our material possessions. Love in action requires us to be humble, not proud; generous, not jealous; and to radically give of ourselves, not to be conceited.
