Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Scripture Readings

I am in India these days. It has been about two weeks since I arrived here. My niece's convocation is over and my brother's family have left. I am at home with mom and dad and enjoying time with them. Yet, I am longing to back to ordinary life. I want to get back to my regular life in Dayton. I want back the ordinary. This experience of mine comes at a time when in the life of the church too we are entering the Ordinary time in the Church. With Pentecost behind us, we are now in the Ordinary time of the liturgical year. 

However, ordinary does not mean unimportant. Without the 'ordinary' life lacks stability. In fact, if our ordinary life is devoid of meaning life can be very hard. So today's first reading is very important. We hear from the book of Sirach. This book contains some very practical sayings for ordinary, day-to-day living. Today's reading is particularly meaningful. For example, what better advice can we get for daily living than "be sincere and steadfast of heart," or "Accept whatever befalls you, when sorrowful, be steadfast, and in crushing misfortune be patient." So I suggest that in the coming week, we take one advice that Sirach offers seriously and try to live it genuinely. For today, for example we could focus on being sincere and patient. 

It is in this sense that the gospel reading too makes sense. The gospel reading in the Ordinary time will focus on the day-to-day, ordinary life of Jesus. We are exposed to the day-to day struggle of both Jesus and the disciples. While Jesus was trying to prepare the disciples for his eventual death, the disciples were arguing about who was the greatest. And Jesus gives some great advice for daily living. He teaches them them the way to greatness is simplicity and humility. I guess, Jesus was emphasizing what we heard in today's first reading. If you want to be great, be sincere, be  steadfast, be patient and be strong in time of adversity. 

Perhaps we can look at the ordinary things of our life. The small simple things like our family members, our pets, our work, our shopping, our cooking and cleaning are not unimportant. Yet, how we imbue these ordinary things of our life with extraordinary meaning? I think the scriptures are telling us the virtues of sincerity, steadfastness, simplicity and patience can make our ordinary life extraordinarily meaningful. 

Someone once said, "A saint is one who does ordinary things in an extraordinary way." May be we can do the same today and in the days to come.

- Fr. Satish Joseph