October 26, 2014
Reflection on Lectoring
“You
are in me and I in you” (John 14:20).
When you tell people you are a teacher, an accountant, a
taxi driver or a parent, you are using terms that have a fairly clear meaning. When you tell people you are a Catholic, the
meaning may sometimes be less clear to them.
When you tell yourself you are a Catholic, what identity are you
claiming for yourself?
At the Last Supper, Jesus gave his apostles an important
understanding of their identity. He said
that they were in him and he was in them. From the day they became his
disciples, their identity was forever shaped by their individual relationship
with their Savior.
However, the apostles also recognized they needed a group
identity. They needed to be members of a
group in order to share their common beliefs.
Conversely, they needed a set of beliefs in order to maintain the strength
and purpose of their group.
There are all kinds of groups, ranging from the
occasional to the indispensable. Some
groups go bowling or read books together.
Other groups have a shared, professional identity such as teacher or
accountant. Other groups share a
cultural identity. And still other
groups share a vital interdependence. “For as in one body we have many parts, and
all the parts do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body
in Christ and individually parts of one another” (Romans 12:4-5).
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First Reading - Exodus 22:20-26
Brothers and Aliens
“Amen,
I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did
for me” (Matthew 25:40). Today’s Old Testament reading from Exodus
does a remarkable job of anticipating the above words of Jesus taken from the
Gospel of Matthew. Together, they
provide a revealing insight into the idea of identity.
In Matthew, Jesus says the poor are his brothers. They are part of his family. They are also part of our family. In today’s first reading, the Hebrew people
are reminded of their common identity with all the other people who have experienced
living as aliens in a foreign land, “For
you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.”
The first reading is taken from an extended section of
Exodus dealing with numerous laws that govern how the Hebrews should interact
with God and with others. This longer section
begins with the Ten Commandments, and creates for the Hebrews a divine covenant
and common set of principles by which to live.
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Second Reading - Thessalonians 1:5c-10
Preaching by Example
Paul began his religious crusade as a fanatical
persecutor of Jesus’ disciples. “Saul,
meanwhile was trying to destroy the church; entering house after house and
dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment” (Acts
8:3), Compulsion and coercion were his preferred method for enforcing
appropriate religious observance.
Then something happened.
On the road to Damascus, Christ showed Paul a different way. Throughout his life, Jesus invited many
people to follow him, but never forced or compelled anyone. For the rest of Paul’s life, preaching rather
than persecution became his approach.
Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians clearly
demonstrates this approach when he says, “Rather,
we were gentle among you, as a nursing mother cares for her children. With such affection for you, we were
determined to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our very selves as
well, so dearly beloved had you become to us” (2:7-8).
In Thessalonica, Paul’s invitation became imitation, and
in imitating Paul, the Thessalonians became models for many others. As Paul says in today’s second reading, “And you became imitators of us and the
Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the Holy Spirit, so
that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.”
© George Fournier, 2014
