Thursday of 6th Week in Ordinary Time
Feast of St. Onesimus
James 2: 1-9; Mark 8: 27-33
Deacon Larry Brockman
Are you thinking as man does or as God does? Today’s liturgy challenges us to think about man’s way versus God’s way in several contexts.
First, there is the lesson in the first reading. Do you and I avoid the lesser folks in our congregation for the well dressed, popular types? Now before you say to yourself “Not I!” Think about it for a moment. Because the example in the reading is an extreme- and it is written so as an example. But I think we can miss the real point. You know, I try to come each Thursday to daily Mass. I see many of the same faces each time. But there are always new faces in the crowd. After Mass, I see clusters of folks each week- the same clusters. And there is nothing wrong with that. But how do you suppose that seems to the new guy in the crowd? Are we welcoming to them? Or are our clusters a form of discrimination?
Why is this important? Because you just never know what a chance contact, particularly one motivated out of kindness and inclusiveness, will do for someone who is reaching out- maybe attending daily Mass for the first time. It is a primary call for us to be inclusive as Christians.
And then there is the example of our Saint today- St. Onesimus. Onesimus was a runaway slave of Philomen, whose name is the title of one of the books of the New Testament. Allegedly Onesimus stole something from Philomen and then ran away to avoid punishment. Paul meets Onesimus when he reaches Rome, and Onesimus converts to Christianity. And so Paul writes the epistle to Philomen to try to patch up the relations between the two. Paul asks Philomen to forgive Onesimus, and to accept him as a brother in Christ. In other words, Paul wants Philomen to accept him as an equal. This violates a number of cultural norms- ways of the World: forgiveness of a disobedient servant; and the separation of servant and ruling class.
That was tough in Paul’s day, and when you think about it, it is tough in our secular world of today as well. Rarely do we find examples where people forgive and accept people who have violated them and the law. But Pope John Paul II did- he forgave and accepted his attacker. And Cardinal Bernardin, who was falsely accused of abuse by a man years after it supposedly occurred, is another example. We all know how such accusations can taint a life. And yet Cardinal Bernardin forgave and accepted the man. Who amongst us doesn’t have someone in our lives that fits this kind of bill? Can we forgive them and accept them despite the damage done?
And lastly, we have the Gospel story about Peter. Peter judges Jesus prophecy through the lens of the World. “Perish the thought; this just can’t be; do you know what you are saying?” In other words, Peter doesn’t take Jesus seriously. Today, we have lots of prophets predicting consequences of serious affronts by the Government on our religious liberty. Respect Life Organizations like Priests for Life; the National Conference of Catholic Bishops; and some news organizations are telling us what’s going on. But are we listening? Do we really care? Are we doing anything about it?
So, are you thinking as man does or as God does?
Tags: Thinking as God does