Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Memorial of Saint Gregory the Great


Pope and Doctor of the Church

Biographical Information about St. Gregory the Great[1]

Readings for Wednesday of the Twenty Second Week in Ordinary Time[2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible

Commentary:

Reading 1: 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

St. Paul addresses divisions in the Church of Corinth. Apollos is a leader of that congregation who came after St. Paul had left. It is obvious from this reading that divisions and rivalries had occurred as some favored St. Paul and others Apollos. St. Paul names them one in God and calls for unity because it is God who brings salvation.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 33:12-13, 14-15, 20-21
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.

Psalm 33 is a hymn of praise in which God as creator is celebrated. In this selection the just are invited to share the Lord’s salvation and are promised his protection. The psalm rejoices in the active help God gives to his chosen people.

Gospel: Luke 4:38-44

This Gospel passage continues the healing mission of Christ in Capernaum. He first heals Simon’s mother-in-law (at this point in St. Luke’s Gospel we Simon has not yet been called). He then proceeds to heal all who are brought to him. The demons he cast out were, as the first, aware of Jesus’ identity as the Son of God.

When Jesus tries to leave the people try to keep him with them. Contrast this response with the people of Nazareth, his home town, earlier. The Lord then proceeds to teach throughout the region, proclaiming the Kingdom of God.

Reflection:

There is an old saying: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” We hear St. Paul addressing the troubled church at Corinth. St. Paul has been gone for some time at the writing of this letter. Many of the first converts to Christianity recall him with obvious fondness. However a new leader, Apollos, has taken over to lead them.

Knowing human nature, we can assume that Apollos did not do things exactly as St. Paul did. He had a different style and demeanor, almost assuredly. As a consequence, as new converts continued to come into the church they would have been aligned with Apollos – they were probably great fans of his. To those who had been with St. Paul from the start, the changes Apollos must have brought were of questionable validity. It is easy to see how these rivalries sprang out of divided loyalties.

All that St. Paul describes can be seen both at a micro-level and macro-level within Christianity today. Within the Catholic Church we find those who feel that the Church should role back the reforms of Vatican II and return to the traditions of the Latin Church. Some believe that a great sin was committed when those changes were implemented. But we don’t even need to go to that drastic level to see the same kinds of divisions. We see it almost every time a new Pastor takes over a parish that has a long tradition. This is especially true when that Pastor has no other clergy providing continuity. Anyone who has been through it knows the depth of emotion that accompanies such change.

Within the larger context of Christianity as a whole, there have been major riffs or schisms over the centuries since Peter first moved the seat of the Church from Jerusalem to Rome. First there was bickering about Constantinople (the Greek cultural center, argued by some to have older roots). That division spit wide open during the later Crusades. This was followed by the schism at the reformation as Martin Luther and John Calvin subdivided the church once more during the Protestant Reformation. The last major split (there have been less explosive schisms since) was when King Henry the VIII of England broke with Rome and proclaimed the Church of England – the Anglicans (Episcopalians in the U.S.).

With no strong central leadership and tradition there have been many subsequent divisions some wildly divergent in their beliefs about Christ and Church, some actually becoming non-Christian (the Mormons, Seventh Day Adventists, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses for example). What would have disappointed St. Paul (and no doubt Jesus) the most would be the bickering and rivalries between groups who all profess Christ as Savior. It is not the gentle and spirited apologetic discourse we speak of here. There will always be debate among people of faith. It is the down right hatred and vitriolic criticism leveled among some who claim to believe in Christ – the Prince of Peace whose greatest commandment was “Love on another.”

The more things change, the more they stay the same. We are called to love one another and that means we love those who hate us as well. As we are called to evangelize a world that is turning from God completely, when we encounter fellow sojourners on the road to Christ, let us be open and accepting, even if they are not. Our dogmatic beliefs may not coincide but our ultimate goals must be the same if we follow the one who redeemed the world.

Pax

[1] The picture used today is “St. Gregory the Great with Saints” by Pieter Pauwel Rubens, 1606
[2] After Links to Reading Expire

Please Pray for Maria

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