23rd Week, Wednesday, Sept 13
Col 3:1-11 / Luke 6:20-26
You are in Christ's company; Seek what is above.
Hugh Martin tells this story in The Parables of the Gospels. A working man admired a lovely vase in a shop window. He bought it and placed it in his room. The lovely vase made him see how ugly his room really was. So, he cleaned his room and painted it. Next, he bought curtains for the windows. Then he repaired the broken furniture. Gradually, he transformed what was once an ugly room into something worthy of the lovely vase.
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In a similar way, Paul exhorts the Colossians to transform their lives into something worthy of the lovely Christ, who dwells in their hearts.
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What are some ugly things in our lives that need transforming to be worthy of Jesus? "Christ came when all things were growing old. He made them new." Augustine of Hippo
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Saint John Chrysostom
People who are willing to stand up for what is right and condemn what is evil leave their mark on the world. But they also may find themselves with enemies. John Chrysostom, an eloquent bishop-preacher of the fourth century, understood this.
John was born around 347 in Antioch, Syria. His father died when he was a child, so his mother guided his education. John was a gifted student. At 18, he experienced a religious conversion and began to study the Bible. Three years later, John joined a group of monks in the mountains. He left them to live as a hermit in a cave. But his health suffered, and he returned to Antioch. There others quickly noticed his gifts as a monk, a biblical scholar, and an eloquent speaker. Soon he was ordained to the diaconate and was ordained a priest at 39.
In 397, John was made the bishop-patriarch of Constantinople. He lived a simple life, giving his wealth over for the building of hospitals, and he set about reforming the clergy and the city. He deposed bishops for buying their way into office. John sold much of the expensive furniture in the bishop’s residence and gave the money to those who were poor. He attacked wealthy people for misuse of their riches. John sought to reform the lax clergy, to straighten out the badly managed budget, and to rid the land of violence. His zeal for charity and justice angered the empress, Eudoxia, and provoked the jealousy of Theophilus, the patriarch of Alexandria. John was impeached and exiled. Even though he had the support of Pope Innocent I, John was exiled even farther away and died en route in 407.
The role of a true prophet is to comfort the disturbed and to disturb the comfortable. John Chrysostom did just that.
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St. John (344/49-407), monk and bishop of Constantinople, was called “Chrysostom,” that is “mouth of gold,” on account of his great eloquence. Though often in poor health, he deserved this name also for being outspoken against corruption at the court and neglect and exploitation of the poor by the mighty. For this reason, he was banned twice from his city and died in exile. We owe him much of the Orthodox liturgy.
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Opening Prayer
God our Father, you entrusted your Good News to St. John Chrysostom. Loyally and without fear, he sowed your word as a seed that it might bear fruit also when it was accepted reluctantly. Give us trust in your word, make it grow in us that it may become in all of us really good news to live by. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen
