“You Were at That Time Without Christ” by Melanie Rigney
You were at that time without Christ, alienated from the community of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have become near by the Blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:12-13)
The Lord speaks of peace to his people. (Psalm 85:9)
“Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.” (Luke 12:37)
Piety
Jesus, thank You for welcoming me back… again and again and again.
Study
Writing devotions and reflections is seldom as easy as it looks. (Yeah, I know, cue the tiny violin.) I always start with a short prayer before I open up the readings, asking the Lord to provide the message He wants me to share. And many times, whether it’s for Your Daily Tripod or other publications and sites for which I write, when I look at the readings, I pray a second or third or fourth time: Really? There’s something in this for me to share, someone who’s basically self-taught through the Holy Spirit and a whole lot of reading and study? Then eventually, words come. It’s like any other ministry; sometimes my best effort seems satisfactory to me, sometimes it doesn’t, but I take comfort in the fact that I have tried to do what He desires.
Today, however, was not one of those days. I knew as soon as I looked at the readings what I was supposed to say. Spend some time today with the first lectionary reading, Ephesians 2:12-22. It opens with these beautiful words: “You were at that time without Christ.” The letter’s author, be it Paul or one of his admirers, knows what it is like to be without Christ, to be adrift morally, spiritually, emotionally. The tone is tender, not accusatory. The passage goes on to include phrases such as “For he is our peace;” “you are no longer strangers and sojourners;” and “through Him, the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord.”
As I write this, the Synod of Bishops on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment is in its last week. Catholics around the world are reeling from recent disclosures about sexual abuse and alleged cover-ups. Social media is aflame with this bishop or that priest or this Catholic news organization accusing the other of lies and sensationalism.
But rising above all that earthly buzzing and despair for me is the memory of when I was without Christ, not just in the thirty-three years I was away from the Church, but yesterday when I was less than Christlike to that person whose request at work on top of everything else I had to do drew a sharp response or the day before when the woman at the bank was rude to me so I was even ruder back to her. Without Him, I am alienated not only from the body of Christ but also from Him and the Father. With Him, I have hope. And that is what matters most, not the buzzing and despair.
Action
The 137th Arlington Men’s Cursillo Weekend begins Thursday night at Priest Field. It may be too late for you to get Palanca to them, and it may not work for you to join in morning prayer or the closing. That’s all right. You can still offer prayers that the Weekend and their Fourth Days bring the men closer to Christ.
Image credit is: https://pixabay.com/en/
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