We are afflicted
in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted,
but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about
in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be
manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being given up to death for
the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal
flesh. 2 Corinthians 4:8-11
“But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among
you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your
slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to
give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:26-28
Piety
RSB Chapter 45: On Those Who Make
Mistakes in the Oratory
When anyone has made a mistake while reciting a Psalm, a
responsory,
an antiphon or a lesson, if he does not humble himself there before all
by making a satisfaction, let him undergo a greater punishment because he would
not correct by humility what he did wrong through carelessness.
Study
The cultural contradictions of
Christianity are front and center in today’s readings and in our daily
lives.
A new survey is out that supposedly
shows the “popularity” of Pope Francis is on the decline. Two months ahead of his first trip to the
U.S., Pope Francis' approval rating among Americans has plummeted, driven
mostly by a decline among political conservatives and Roman Catholics,
according to a new Gallup poll released Wednesday.[i] When the poll was under way, Francis, the
first Latin American pope, was on a homecoming tour through South America that
especially unsettled conservatives, reported the Associated Press.
Something tells me that Pope Francis could
not care LESS who he “unsettles.” He is
following the sandaled-footsteps of a certain unpopular son of a Jewish
carpenter (who won no straw polls among the political or religious
establishment of his day). James’ mother
can attest to that. She wants what every mother wants for he son – a position
befitting a mother’s exalted image of her son. She wants James and his brother
to have a seat of honor. She is no more
likely to win such high honors for her sons than was Mary of Nazareth likely to
see her son rule Jerusalem.
People loved Jesus when he said things
that they wanted to hear. However, they walked away in the shadows when he said
what they did not want to hear. The rich
man. The Pharisees. The scribes. Herod. Not. Not. Not. The same was true of the
prophets before and after…all the way up to Pope Francis. He is popular with the traditional and modern
Catholics when he says things with which they agree. However, unlike politicians who live for the
NEXT election, Pope Francis must live for his LAST election.
St. Paul confronted a similar legacy as
explained by the notes to the New American Bible. “He must reconcile the difficulty that his
present existence does not appear glorious at all; it is marked instead by
suffering and death. He asserts his faith in the presence and ultimate triumph
of life, in his own and every Christian existence, despite the experience of
death.” For St. Paul, the negative never completely prevails. There is always
hope because Christ lives in us and we live in Christ.
Action
We have all seen those
Russian nesting dolls…you know, the kind where the smaller doll fits inside the
bigger doll and so on…like the ones pictured here.
Today’s readings remind me of the holy family with Jesus nesting inside
Mary. Then, when we receive the
Eucharist, Jesus nests inside us. Then,
when we receive the Eucharist, we nest inside Jesus so that he still lives in
the world.
The hopeful words and
spirit of Jesus live on even through the Good News, the epistles of St. Paul,
the encyclicals of our Pope or (we hope) through the random blogging of his
servants. However, it has to jump off the page, too.
How will Jesus nest in you
today so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh? How will you
be a slave to the Word? How will you
help Jesus nest in the world? How will
you nest in Jesus?
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