Thursday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time
No matter what our personality, there are times when we’re called to celebrate and dance with abandon! This “abandon” factor does not mean that we lose control but rather the special meaning of the event or occasion calls for a special celebration of joy. It’s the difference between the short-term exuberance of winning a sports championship by the smallest of margins and finding a lost child after a long and frantic search. Why and how we celebrate says something about our deepest values.
As always, we take our cues about how to fully celebrate as coming from our human nature. We believe that when God chose to be born of Mary this physical Incarnation event changed and elevated our human nature forever. Jesus took to himself everything we experience about being human. That included not only all our emotions and desires, except sin, but He also gave us the ability to love and wonder at a whole new level.
Our readings from St. Paul today and the Gospel sound like a personal invitation to go “to the limit!” It is the new level now possible for anyone who begins to realize the amazing meaning of the word “chosen.” St. Paul says to do everything “in the name of the Lord” and Jesus teaches us to love, even our enemies. That’s a super-charged love without measure and is truly “out of this world!” Do we dare to love with that kind of abandon?
Reflection by Fr. Daniel Petsche, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections