Today begins the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time. The first readings shift to meditations on wisdom and on the mysterious Wisdom that is God, spoken in gentle but firm parlance of a parent passing on advice to a child, especially one going through transitions in growth or into adulthood. In the Gospel, Jesus reveals to his friends and the crowds about what it means to be fully human, which is to embrace the joy of emptying oneself of the pretenses of status caused by well-meaning but distracting ambition.
Today, the Book of Samuel and the Gospel of Luke reveal that letting go and following God is not only counter-cultural, but almost subversive in laying bare the hypocrisies of some cultural norms, especially those that involve demonstrations of violence as signs of strength and honor.
(Painting above of “Saul and David” by Rembrandt)
Read pages 7 and 8 of the Fundamental Principles of the Xaverian Brothers.
Read the biography of Br. John Olsen, CFX.
(Above photo of Brother John Olsen, CFX-Xaverian Brothers)
Reflect on Jesus’ commandment to turn the other cheek, David’s decision not to kill Saul, and consider the words of the Fundamental Principles about bearing with people in their difficulties and weaknesses. What do we hear about being compassionate but also courageous in righting wrongs or confronting injustices? What did Brother John’s peers have to say about his ability to be present to people in both gentle and in tense situations? How can we internalize our calling to be peacemakers in the strange but effective and practical way Jesus challenges us to be?
Ordinary and Unspectacular in the Liturgical Year 