October 21, 2009
Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted. Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness. Romans 6:17-18
Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come. Luke 12:39-40
Piety
Father, help us respond to the problem of evil in the world with our actions. Jesus, help us to observe and emulate the virtuous and honest people that we encounter in this world. Holy Spirit, teach us how to turn this knowledge into action because as Psalm 37 teaches, “The salvation of the just is from you, LORD, our refuge in time of distress. Help and rescue us. Save us from the wicked, because in God we take refuge.” Amen.
Study
According to the notes in the New American Bible, today’s first reading from Romans contrasts all of humanity with those few who are counted among the believers. In contrast to humanity, which was handed over to self-indulgence, believers are entrusted ("handed over") to God's pattern of teaching, that is, the new life God aims to develop in Christians through the productivity of the holy Spirit. Throughout this passage Paul uses the slave-master model in order to emphasize the fact that one cannot give allegiance to both God and sin.
We can never let our guard down. Fortunately, our help is in the name of the Lord. Christians have been released from the grip of sin, but sin endeavors to reclaim its victims every minute of every day. The antidote is constant remembrance that divine grace has claimed them and identifies them as people who are alive only for God's interests.
[P]resent yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life and the parts of your bodies to God as weapons for righteousness. For sin is not to have any power over you, since you are not under the law but under grace. Romans 6:13-14
Vigilance also is reinforced as the theme in today’s Gospel. Vigilance leads to readiness. The images used are those of “slaves of righteousness” and “weapons of righteousness.” Rather than being controlled by sin, our faith calls for us to be slaves of the opposite forces. Once we are thus dedicated, we will be weapons that will fight off the near occasion of sin.
What does righteousness really mean in the context of these readings? According to some biblical translations, the Greek word that we translate as righteous is “dike” (pronounced, dee-kay). The ancient Greek meaning was “tendency.” The use of this word in the Bible implies justice and conformance to established standards. Justice means doing the right thing; and conformance to established standards (in the Bible) refers to following the ways of God. So, the word righteous can also be translated as just, since righteousness is so closely tied to justice.
So, another way to consider this reading is calling on all of us to be slaves of justice and weapons of justice. Once we know this, then we have a lot to do in order to fulfill this role. Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more. Romans 6:48b
Action
To be counted righteous, we must treat others with love. We read in Matthew 25:37-40, ‘Then the righteous will ask, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you as a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison, and come to you? And the king will say to them, I tell you the truth, when you did it for one of the least of these my brothers, you did it for me.’
Our exemplar of justice is Jesus. He became human so he could show us the best that we can be and asked us to follow him and his example.
When Jesus encountered broken bodies and broken minds and broken spirits, he became their healer and sent forth the power of his love to renew the face of the earth. That task, that righteousness, that justice is now resting on our shoulders.
The Lord does not outline this task for us in Scripture for us to feel guilty but in order for us to feel free to accept the mission carved out for us.
