7th Ordinary Sunday

7th Ordinary Sunday

Meditation

Our Christian life stands apart from the religious, social and economic frameworks the world proposes. It is unique because we do not simply seek what benefits us, nor even what benefits others, or the common good. Instead, everything we do carries the fullness of goodness, because God is behind it. Our Christian life is, therefore, a response to what God wants from us and what pleases Him. In this divine goodness, even our ordinary pleasures are included. For example, when I go for personal prayer, I experience joy simply by being present in the chapel, doing nothing, just resting in the presence of God. I deeply believe that my time before the Blessed Sacrament pleases God and gives me the pleasure I seek, leading me to an inner peace and joy, as willed by the Father, through my desire for this spiritual encounter.

Today's Gospel teaches me some important lessons to deepen this inner joy and peace, not just in the chapel but also in how I live with others in this world. It draws me closer to Jesus and His teachings. I look to the early Christian community for inspiration, trying to understand what motivated them to live such radical lives, so different from the world around them. This spiritual conversion, beginning in my heart, leads to social conversion, calling me to live patiently and humbly what I have experienced in the chapel with my brothers and sisters.

This Jubilee Year invites us to personal renewal and reconciliation in a society that has radically changed and become secularized. Many who promote certain religious sentiments do so with violence and vengeance, rejecting love, forgiveness, and reconciliation as means of peaceful dialogue. I deliberately refuse to follow this societal trend and instead look to the life of the first Christian community, fully adhering to what the Master taught and what the Apostles lived. Humanly acceptable norms, though good and excellent, are secondary because my priority is to do God's will. Forgiving my enemies and rejecting violence and vengeance is the path the early Christians took, especially when they accepted Saul as their representative to spread the Gospel.

In the past, we looked to a world where Christianity was the prevalent religion. Today, however, the axis has shifted to secularism, individualism, and sometimes even anti-religious sentiment, rejecting the evangelical values Jesus taught. Mocking religious beliefs in the name of personal freedom or artistic expression is not what Christ taught me. Nonetheless, Christ calls me to accept everyone as children of God and to show them, through my personal witness, how much God still loves and cares for them.

True renewal means returning to our roots, removing what no longer serves us, just like pruning a vine in John 15. I am personally convinced that I am part of the first Christian community in my society and Church, where a life of witness is essential. We need holy leaders, fully conformed to Christ, living His life as salt of the earth and light of the world—a true life of witness.

My personal renewal is the first step toward the renewal of the Church. The ancient paradigm lived by the mystics is the new path to life, though old of Eucharist of Towel that Peter refused from his beloved Master: humility and service. Each of us is invited during this Jubilee Year to find that specific call to live a life of witness. I am named after St. Joseph (Joe) and St. Thérèse of Lisieux (Terry or Therese), which calls me to embody Thérèse’s contemplative life within four walls, and Joseph’s dedication behind the scenes, fulfilling the mission, much like the itinerant missionary Fr. Claret, who carried the Eucharist in his heart. I am certain that you too have saints to imitate, incorporating their charism into your life after Jesus and Mary. Today’s Gospel calls us to live an authentic and witnessing life, as a minority but a powerful sign of hope—like a candle in the darkness. Let us pray that our lives may reflect the witness Jesus gave, as demonstrated by David to Saul (first reading), and by the early Christians to Paul. Let us ask for the grace to live a heavenly life here on earth. Amen.

You have a material for reading which I have already shared with you.

https://www.vatican.va/spirit/documents/spirit_20010522_diogneto_en.html

Fr. Terry Cmf.