31/10/2022

Any group of people; family, congregation, state is unlikely to spend even short amounts of time together without squabbling over little things or arguing over greater ones. St. Paul knows this but whereas I, for example, accept this as a fact of life he strives to rid us of any sort of dissention. His point is that as we are chosen to be God's people we must completely give way to others, to put other people first, to follow the Golden Rule instinctively. St Paul is right but there is a legend that during a dispute he once grabbed St Peter by the beard. We do know that he did condemn "rotten apples" by name and we do know by experience that "giving-in" to a wayward child does no good at all as it confirms the child in the self-importance that is in our natures.

Jesus lived in a society where inviting men to a formal meal was a prevalent custom. This custom is still part of the culture in the Middle-East and is older than Abraham who immediately fed his visitors in the shade of the oak at Mamre. We, who live in the nuclear families who have long forgotten hospitality as a necessity of human life, find relating to Jesus' words to his fellow guests difficult to relate to. Reciprocity is part of lives at work and at home. "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" is the way most of us live with other people and it seems that there is no harm in it.

Jesus did everything in his life on earth for us without any possibility of reward from us. The emptying himself of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to live as man is an event of such humility that none of us can possibly repay. The pain of his passion and death and his confrontation with sin in the depths of hell are known to us by words only and can be contemplated but never matched. Jesus accepted this suffering to bring us back to the triune God and we too are to always put the needs of others before our own.

We can do it! The living water of Father Son and Holy Spirit is always there ready for us to draw on in our quest for holiness.

Dear Lord again I face another day as do all thy children in the world let us all accept the grace that is in your creation and live as the human beings you want us to be. May Mary lead all the saints in praise of you and May Almighty God have mercy on all us sinners that we may try to always put the needs of others before our own.