Reflection for Thursday, August 25, 2011: 21st week in Ordinary Time.
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Authors
Purcell, Tom
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2011-08-25
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Essay
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en_US
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As sometimes happens when I reflect on the scripture passages before writing a reflection, I need to do a little research. I am a tax guy, not a theologian, and sometimes the passages for the day just don't speak to me the first few times I read them. So, I took a look at the context of Paul's epistle, and also of Jesus' admonition to the disciples. Both were placed in part of a broader discussion about when the Son of Man would again return - i.e., the second coming.||This provided me with some thoughts on recent events - the world was supposed to end, according to some, this past May. Didn't happen. Now it is supposed to end on October 21, 2011, or December 21, 2012 (the Mesoamerican Long count calendar end). Will it? Who knows - we'll have to wait and see.|But I think what both Paul and Jesus were emphasizing is not the when, but what you do in between. To paraphrase James Carville, former President Clinton's political adviser, "It's the journey!" (He addressed it to "stupid" but that doesn't seem to fit right here). Of course, if we knew with certitude when our life would end, we could plan our remaining time to conform with what is most important to us. But we don't, and most of the time we won't, and so what we do in between is the journey and how we travel it is crucial.|Jesus on more than a few occasions berates hypocrites. He does here again - holding up as an example of misplaced priorities the servant who tries to get away with some things because the master is not there overseeing him personally. In another context, Jesus also cautions us against becoming smug and self-righteous, such as his admonition about telling our neighbor about sawdust in their eyes while we have a plank in ours - Mt. 7:3. So whenever I start thinking about hypocrisy, I try to resist the temptation to see it in others, and instead try to see it in myself.|I think I have enough to work on in improving my own journey, my own faith, my own ability to "stand firm" as Paul says, "in the Lord," without looking to shortcomings in others. There are plenty of examples in my own life where I can take the short-cuts, or feel the ability to cut corners or get away with something, as did the servant in Matthew. Sometimes I do, as I suspect most of us do.|This is what, when I was growing up, was called the "work-ethic." Do the job at hand, don't look too far down the road, don't get too distracted by extraneous thoughts or temptations. When you are hoeing a field, or picking fruit, or re-building an engine, or painting a house, you know what the end should be, but if you don't concentrate on the details, the steps to get there, you will not end up where you thought you would.|So too with the end days, whether it be of our personal lives or the world itself. Those events will happen. We know that as a fact. But if we lose sight of the details, the journey, the how we pick the fruit today, or apply the paint, we won't end up where we planned, but somewhere else.|And so my prayer today is for the grace to be aware in the moments, minutes, hours, and days of my journey of the call to build the kingdom here on earth, and how, so I can be the faithful and prudent servant, and not the foolish one.
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University Ministry, Creighton University.
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These reflections may not be sold or used commercially without permission. Personal or parish use is permitted.
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Lectionary number: 428