FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
12 JULY 2015
When Saint Paul begins his letter to the
Ephesians, he shares his vision of faith.
Ephesus was an important port city in the ancient world. With ships bringing in goods from around the
Mediterranean Sea, Ephesus had a very diverse culture with many nationalities
and languages. Under the authority of
Caesar, whom the citizens called “lord,” there was an emphasis on
learning. By studying the various
philosophers and appealing to the correct gods, the Ephesians were searching
for what was really important and what would really last. Even today, the façade of the great library
still stands in Ephesus.
To this diverse and educated group,
Saint Paul clearly states that God, the Father of Jesus Christ, is the ultimate
meaning of life. He calls on the
Ephesians to let go of whatever they are currently worshipping and give their
allegiance to the one God who had revealed himself in history to his Chosen
People. He insists that the real Lord is
Jesus Christ, not Caesar. Through Jesus
Christ and through the Mystery of his death and resurrection, God has chosen us
to be holy and without blemish to accomplish his will, drawing everyone to
himself.
These words form the beginning of
one of Saint Paul’s most eloquent letters.
They remain more than a nice beginning.
They speak to us today. We too
live in a diverse culture. We too pride
ourselves on being educated people. We
live in a culture which emphasizes the individual and stresses the importance
of making choices to form our lives. We
may not have a pantheon of statues of gods in a temple. But, our culture tells us that the most
important values involve living comfortable lives, making money, getting the
best jobs, and being happy.
Although these things are not bad in
themselves, Paul insists that the source of our ultimate happiness lies in
being in union with God. He challenges
us to take another look at our lives to see what we worship today. We can easily put all our energies into
pursuing those things in life which turn out to be false gods and which cannot
last.
Saint Paul encourages us to make
sure that Jesus Christ is truly the Lord of our lives, trusting in the Paschal
Mystery. If we trust in that Mystery and
recognize Jesus as Lord, then we can more easily embrace those crosses that seem
to have the power to destroy us. If we
are willing to enter into the Mystery of the Lord’s dying by giving ourselves
in humble service to others, then we can trust that we can share in his
rising. We can recognize those
sacrifices we make not as burdens that oppress us, but as the means to free us
to make better choices.
Just as Paul knew that he had been
chosen by Jesus Christ to spread this Good News to the ancient world, he wants
us to see that whatever choices we make must be rooted in our awareness that
God has chosen us in the first place.
Just as God had chosen Amos to speak the truth to the people of the
Northern Kingdom of Israel, God has chosen us to be his people and speak the
truth in our culture. Just as Jesus sent
the Twelve to continue his work of teaching and healing, he sends us to do the
same today.
We do not need a lot of stuff to
carry on his mission. In fact, too much
stuff can get in our way and obscure the presence of God in our midst. But we do need each other. That is why Jesus sends the Twelve out in
pairs. In our culture, more and more
people are saying that they are spiritual, but not religious. They are implying that they can live and
spread the Paschal Mystery on an individual basis. We know that is not true, and that is why we
are here today to celebrate the Eucharist.
It is true that where two or three are gathered, the Lord is
present. As Saint Paul tells us, the
promised Holy Spirit guides us as God’s Chosen People. The Holy Spirit is the first installment of
our inheritance. Together, we trust that
installment.
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