Monday of the Thirty first Week in Ordinary Time

Monday of the Thirty first Week in Ordinary Time

Readings for Monday of the 31st Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Phil 2:1-4

Responsorial Psalm Ps 131:1bcde, 2, 3
R. In you, O Lord, I have found my peace.

Gospel Lk 14:12-14

Reflection:

Jesus tells the Pharisees to do what is right without expectation of repayment because it is right to do so and allows us to continue our reflection upon the moral theological issues we have been pursuing for the past few days. Over the past 4 days we have been focusing on whether it is more important to follow the letter of the Law or the spirit of the Law and culminated that subject yesterday as Christ gave us the Great Commandment linking spirit and law. That answered the; “What are we to do?” question.

Today we are told to ask ourselves; “Why are we doing what we do?” This question, in terms of how we live the faith we have been given, is at least as important as the last question we asked. The judgment of the Lord will fall on us very quickly if we do the “right” thing for the wrong reason. He will be equally merciful if we do the “wrong” thing for the right reason. Let’s give an example.

The scenario is this, an older woman who is a distant relative has been ill for quite some time. We have been attending her in the hospital because (here is the wrong reason) she is quite well off and we hope to gain some reward when she passes. Of course, it is likely the Lord may at some point forgive our greed because on the surface we were doing the right thing. We can be sure of another consequence, even if our actions result in personal gain – the reward will not taste sweet.

Here is the second scenario. An older woman who is a distant relative has no one left and is in the hospital dying. We go to visit her, knowing that her estate will be given to, let’s say, the Humane Society. She is suffering great pain and you are asked; do we increase the pain medication, knowing this will speed her demise? Or; do we try everything else to prolong her life?

We ask; will the other procedures make her well enough to leave the hospital and return to some semblance of a normal life (the right reason)? The answer is no. So, even knowing that this decision will ultimately cause her life to end more quickly (the wrong thing); we ask that the pain medication be increased.

We use these rather extreme examples to demonstrate the principle; however, we face the same questions in our own lives on a regular basis. Are we doing what we do for the right reasons or are we looking for reward when it is simply the right thing to do and forgetting that God the Father will take care of that when it really counts.

There are my other scriptural examples such as the story of the Good Samaritan and Paul’s discourse to the Ephesians talking about not letting your left hand know what your right had is doing. Today we are given the Lord’s reminder as he says; “For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Pax