Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Today's Mass Readings

So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them
and went to Iconium. Acts 13:52.

All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God. Ps. 98.3.

Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,
and will do greater ones than these… Jn. 14.13.

In the life of the Church, conflicts inevitably arise. To go back to philosophy again, Arthur Schopenhauer spoke of a rule of conflict of community, what he called the Hedgehog Paradox. When people come together for a reason or end, they end up conflicting with each other, the way hedgehogs would prick one another to stay warm in Winter. While this seems counter-intuitive at first, we need to see human nature realistically, especially in the Church. The temptation of self-justification can inhabit anyone’s soul. To turn away from God in pride or circumstance will destroy us. It is not enough to honor our religion half-heartedly or with conceit. We must renew our own devotion to God always. We need to return to grace through humility, forgiveness, and reconciliation. I say this as much as a challenge to myself as to you. We need to choose how we respond to conflict and problems arising in the Church. We can choose the path of light and joy, or to see the path of sadness and bitterness. We can see opportunities to build bridges when we have a positive, can-do attitude. We can take a negative, Debbie-downer attitude that only sees obstacles and problems. You can choose to ascend Mt. Carmel, or be a curmudgeon.

We choose, ultimately, how we respond to the gift of salvation. We all will choose in the end how we respond to the gift, in this life and the next. Amen.

Reflection by Br. Matthew Marie, OSB