by Jean Nathalia
16 Oct – Memorial for St. Hedwig,
Religious; Memorial for St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Virgin
Hedwig (1174–1243) was the
daughter of the Duke of Croatia, and aunt of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. She
married Prince Henry I of Silesia and Poland in 1186 at the age of 12, and
became the mother of seven. She cared for the sick both personally and by
founding hospitals. Upon her husband’s death, she gave away her fortune and
entered the monastery at Trebnitz.
- Patron Saint Index
______________
Ephesians 1:1-10
From Paul, appointed by God to be
an apostle of Christ Jesus, to the saints who are faithful to Christ Jesus.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be God the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with all the
spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ.
Before the world was made, he
chose us, chose us in Christ,
to be holy and spotless, and to
live through love in his presence,
determining that we should become
his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ
for his own kind purposes,
to make us praise the glory of
his grace,
his free gift to us in the
Beloved,
in whom, through his blood, we
gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.
Such is the richness of the grace
which he has showered on us
in all wisdom and insight.
He has let us know the mystery of
his purpose,
the hidden plan he so kindly made
in Christ from the beginning
to act upon when the times had
run their course to the end:
that he would bring everything
together under Christ, as head,
everything in the heavens and
everything on earth.
________________
Luke 11:47-54
Jesus said:
‘Alas for you who build the tombs
of the prophets, the men your ancestors killed! In this way you both witness
what your ancestors did and approve it; they did the killing, you do the
building.
‘And that is why the Wisdom of
God said, “I will send them prophets and apostles; some they will slaughter and
persecute, so that this generation will have to answer for every prophet’s
blood that has been shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of
Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was murdered between the altar and the
sanctuary.” Yes, I tell you, this generation will have to answer for it all.
‘Alas for you lawyers who have
taken away the key of knowledge! You have not gone in yourselves, and have
prevented others going in who wanted to.’
When he left the house, the
scribes and the Pharisees began a furious attack on him and tried to force
answers from him on innumerable questions, setting traps to catch him out in
something he might say.
________________
Answer for it
Any form of structure,
discipline, rule, law, program, teaching, is to serve man, and to raise him to
the dignity that is worthy of him, as he is made in God’s image. This
fundamental truth often gets lost among those in leadership. In pursuing what
appears to be the “greater good”, leaders can often forget the individual that
the program ought to be serving.
That is why Jesus levels a
serious allegation against the lawyers. Lawyers have a tendency to measure men
mercilessly against the laws, and thereby make human dignity beneath it. Having
stated this, it must be reminded that laws serve a purpose. Laws ensure a
common denominator of good and right conduct which protect the vulnerable
against the truly depraved. But laws, when applied, must serve man (rather than
have men serve laws) – this fundamental principle cannot be lost on leaders.
Our Pope has consistently called
out for our Church to meet the poor. This is a fresh way of presenting the
issue. Instead of focusing on the “greater good” (i.e., guarding the
ninety-nine), our Pope believes that it is time to reframe our vision of the
Church as one that goes towards the marginalized (i.e., search for the lost
sheep). It is time for leaders to hear the voice of the individual–the person
whose cries are important, but whose voice can be easily drowned out by the
masses. Simply put, our Pope is leading us away from the insistence of hard
doctrine so as to meet the individual who needs to be first loved in order to
love.
Applying this new vision of
loving the individual (i.e., the poor, the marginalized, the voiceless) in
every area of our parish life has a transformative effect. To what extent has
our rigid insistence on the previous ways of looking at a matter stifled
creativity, suffocated novelty, diminished morale and extinguished passion?
Perhaps it is time to stop asking the “what”, “why”, or “how” question, and
instead ask the more human question: “who”. Who can I love a bit more? Who can
the church serve? Who can my community reach out to?
When we ask “who”, a human face
emerges: that is the face that needs Christ – the one that is unable to forgive
himself, the one who is thirsting from an unfulfilled life, the one who carries
self-rejection, the one who hungers for human affection, the one who longs to
be healed, the one who is unable to trust, the one who has been emptied by
break ups, the one who has been crushed by superiors, the one who has been
betrayed, the one who has been abandoned.
When I ask “who”, I start to
realize another person’s deep need for Christ. In a profound way, I realize the
responsibility that I have. No longer can I simply blame the environment,
society, programs, priests, or church workers for any failure to reach out to
that individual, for I too am a part of Christ’s body. I too have a
responsibility to respond to the cries of those who around me who are
struggling and crying out for Christ (whether or not they realize this). In the
words of Jesus, I too have a responsibility to “answer for it”.
______________
Prayer: Jesus, I do not want to take responsibility over anyone else’s
life but my own. Yet, it is only when I start to live for more than myself that
I realize that the purpose of my life is connected to the lives of others. Help
me to stop living an individualistic life and to start seeing that we are all a
part of One body and it is only when we are together, loving each other where
we are at, that our joy will be multiplied.
Thanksgiving: We give thanks for those
who have tasted our joys and pains with us, and in so doing, helped us realize
that we are not alone. May we honour them by giving the same gift to another.
No comments:
Post a Comment