22nd Week, Saturday, Sept 9
Colossians 1:21-23 / Luke 6:1-5
Sin alienates us from God: Christ reconciled us back to God.
Webster's Dictionary defines the word atonement as "the reconciliation of God and man through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ," It is this reconciliation that Paul talks about in today's reading. What the dictionary doesn't say is how the word atonement came into being. Back in 1526, when William Tyndale translated the New Testament into English, he couldn't find an English word to express the idea of our reconciliation with God through Jesus' death. So, he made one up. He joined two words: at and onement, thus making the word atonement, or atonement. In other words, by the death of Jesus we were reconciled or "made one" with God. ***
How often do we meditate on Jesus' death? "Lord, by
your cross and resurrection you have set us free. You are the saviour of the
world." Mass Liturgy
***
Paul reminds his Colossians that before their conversion
they were estranged from God. Now that they have been reconciled with God and
one another, they should remain so.
***
To reconcile means to make friends after an estrangement. Sin
is the cause of an estrangement. We would like to hide from God when we have
committed a sin. Just as Adam did. We find it difficult to pray. As in
everything, God reconciles us through his son. God always takes the initiative:
He created us without sin. He loves us. So much did God love us that he gave us
his Son. He is the first. How great his love is, he showed us in this that he
did not spare his own Son. God always takes the initiative. In creation, we do
not even have to respond to that. Not so in reconciliation. Here we have an
obligation to do our part. We would like to hide from God when we have
committed a sin. The aim of reconciliation is our holiness. Then only are we
really friends of God " when we strive after holiness. Reconciliation
demands loyalty. The sincerity of our faith and hope is the only guarantee that
we strive after holiness that makes us loyal friends. That Faith is in danger
in Colossae.
***
Let us say that this morning, or later in the morning, we meet someone and wished that person "Good morning". But what we get was a sullen silence or a cold stare, or some unwarranted reply like: What's so good about the morning? There will be two things that we might want to do; either we get into a tangle of heated words with that person, or we just let it be and walk away from that sticky situation and be at peace with ourselves. So, in almost every situation, there can be a reaction or a response. A reaction can be quite scorching, much like a volatile chemical reaction; a response would be more gentle and sublime.
In the gospel, the Pharisees reacted to what the disciples of Jesus did. But Jesus responded to their reaction; He made them think and reflect about what they said. So, in all kinds of situations, we have a choice: we can either react scorchingly, or we can respond sublimely.
In the 1st reading, even St. Paul would urge the Colossians to have a new way of thinking and acting because of their faith in Christ. A reaction to a situation would only result in tension. But we can only give a Christian response when we stand firm on the solid rock of faith and not drifting from the hope promised by the Good News.
Jesus is the master of the Sabbath. Let us let Him also be
the Master of every situation. That is our best Christian response.
***
A frequent sign of their own insecurity is that people seek
security in laws and traditions. The more they insist on these, the more they
try to bend people to these, the greater their insecurity. Laws are supposed to
be in the service of the community, not vice versa. They may never become a
block or a screen between people. They are not absolutes but servants of
people.
***
Prayer
Lord our God, Jesus your Son came not to abolish the law but
to fill it with the dimensions of love. Do not allow commandments and rules to
stand between you and us nor between people, but let them lead us gently, as
good educators, to you and to our neighbour and teach us to go beyond the law in
generosity and serving love. Make us free with the freedom brought us by your
Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
***
Saint Peter Claver
Feast day September 9
Have you ever been really, really thirsty? Maybe you were
hiking or mowing the yard on a hot summer day. Maybe you just came in from the
playground or off the basketball court. Think how good a drink of cold water
would be. If some kind person brought you water, how would you feel? Peter
Claver was that sort of person. Peter felt he was called to be a missionary.
When he was 29 years old, Peter left his home in Spain and went to Cartagena
(in what is now Colombia), South America. There he continued his studies and
was ordained a priest.
Cartagena was a busy city, but its economic success came
from dealing in human misery. Cartagena was the main market for the slave trade
in the New World. Hundreds of thousands of people were brought there from
Africa, herded into warehouses, and auctioned off to the highest bidder. They
had been captured, chained together, crowded onto ships, and neglected during
the long journey to South America. The conditions were so terrible that an
estimated one-third of the captives died during the journey.
Whenever a ship carrying Africans arrived in port, Peter was
there. He would hurry down with a jug of water, and a basket full of medicine,
fruit, bread, and clothing. He would greet the slaves by giving them a drink of
water. His first concern was to tend to their human needs—to ease their
suffering and somehow restore their sense of dignity. He saw the suffering
Jesus in the people he served. And he heard in their cry: “What you do for
others, you do for me.” Peter nursed many back to health and, while they were in
warehouses awaiting their sale, he told them that Jesus loved them and gave
them the sacraments.
Peter Claver could not eliminate the strong hold that
slavery had on society. The hearts and the consciences of many people had been
so hardened that they refused to see this evil of slavery in their midst. But
Peter did what he could. He tried to be a visible sign that the African slaves
were indeed human beings, children of God. By bringing the love of Jesus to
them, he was laying the foundations of justice and charity for the future.
During his 40 years in Colombia, Peter Claver baptized nearly 300,000 Africans.
A man of deep prayer, unbounded energy, and steady devotion, Peter Claver realized that it was his relationship with Christ that nourished his spirit and gave him the courage to go on when so many problems surrounded his work. When he died the city that had opposed so many of his efforts honoured him.
