Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time
The Letter to the Hebrews says a very curious thing today: “We have become partners of Christ if only we hold the beginning of the reality firm until the end.” It’s that beginning of the reality that sticks out to me. Why is the beginning so important for Christian life and ministry?
Realistically, human weakness means that zeal cools over time. It is akin to fervent infatuation that must grow in nuance if it would be marital love. Love must be loyalty, mutual self-giving, accepting and forgiving, and even sacrificial. Love becomes less passionate maybe but deeper and unbreakable. So too, we remember the beginning of our conversion and the many gifts God gave to us to help us get started in true holiness—we remember this when we are called to mature and go to God not simply for good feelings but because we love Him and wish to be as present to Him as He is to us. We cannot forget what we were and would be without God.
Secondly, the beginning also refers to the most primitive proclamation of the gospel. As we grow in love for God and His Church, we generally want to know more about the beloved. However, we can sometimes get lost in the weeds. As we love more we seek to participate more, and then we can find ourselves in the normal human pettiness we thought the Church would free from us. This can distract us. So, we need to remember this: That there is a God, knowable and personal; that we have sinned, and yet He seeks relationship with us; He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die and Rise for us, and through the Sacraments, He instituted He saves us and offers us an relationship, raising our mortal bodies to glory in heaven. This is the beginning that allows us to participate firmly to the end.
Reflection by Fr. Pachomius Meade, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections