Thirty-first Sunday Ordinary

Thirty-first Sunday Ordinary
October 30, 2005

"Has not the one God created us? Why then do we break faith with one another..." (Malachi 1: 8-10). "We were gentle among you, as a nursing mother cares for her children..." (I Thessalonians 2: 7-13). "... do not follow their example... For they preach but they do not practice" (Matthew 23:1-12)

Jesus again scolds the religious leaders of his day who are more interested in how they look and in imposing moral and religious obligations on others rather than looking to their own inner lives. These are serious words for those of us formally designated by the church to interpret the word of God. I recall earlier in my adult life being quite enthralled with this role and the visible trappings which go with it: special ceremonial garments, titles and privileges, and being seen. I also remember in my youth, after a very difficult year of discernment, being told by a religious superior that not wearing my monastic garb was the reason for my deciding to return to secular life.

It is easy to be seduced into thinking that religious and spiritual authority comes from what we wear or are called. It is also true that religious symbols can have extraordinary power to evoke profoundly spiritual responses from within us. It all depends on how we use them. Practicing what we preach, maintaining the connection between the visible and invisible, does not come quickly or easily for any of us. Neither does discernment about when and where to give or withhold respect for authority.

St. Paul's compares himself to a nursing mother, implying a much different way of thinking about religious and spiritual authority. Pastoring one another is like being a good mother. Mothers nurse us with what they have within themselves, their "spiritual milk". Their authority is only as effective as their love We all deserve to give and receive nourishing milk when it is accompanied by genuine warmth, care and support. It is very difficult for any of us to give what we don't have.

Interpreting the meaning of the gospel is as much a matter of living what we preach to each other as it is imparting a correct way of thinking. We "break faith with one another" when we fail to link these two aspects of spiritual and religious lives. We cannot avoid the fact that inconsistencies between who we are and what we say are immediately obvious, usually to everyone else first. In this regard it takes a while to be ready to listen to what we do not want to hear. Let us pray for open minds and hearts to receive from the word of God and each other what we need to hear along with what we want to hear.