Saturday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
In the first reading, Paul commends the Thessalonians for their charity and communal love. Which, let's be honest, if our community got a letter from Pope Francis telling us we were doing a great job, we would be pumped! Then, Paul tempers the possibility of pride by calling them to continual growth. However, he calls them to continual growth by telling them to “mind their own affairs” and “work with their own hands.” Now, I don't know about you, but this threw me off at first. How are they progressing in charity by doing their own thing? Doesn't this sound a little too much like hyper-individualized Christianity? I think not. I don't believe that Paul is calling the Thessalonians to have a more me-centered Christianity. I think he is calling the Thessalonians to live out their charity through responsibility. Perhaps my experience as I work with young people might help us understand this.
I am the coordinator for Immaculate Conception Young Disciples (ICYD) - a group of college age youth. We meet each Wednesday and reflect on our real world experiences as Catholic youth. At last Wednesday's meeting we moved from the topic of interfaith relationships to the perks of being the youngest sibling to the downside of being the youngest sibling in a big family. The downside was the reality that the youngest will likely bury all of their older siblings before they pass on as well. As morbid as that topic can seem, we began to exchange stories of the awkward experience of our parents showing us their burial plots (A surprising number of us have gone through that). We bonded over the fact that there is nothing like driving home from a family trip to an ice cream stand or seeing Grandma and having your parents pull off into a cemetery to show you where they'll be when they're called home. As we shared stories of our parents eccentricities and discussed some of the comfort with death that comes from being Christian, I chimed in with my own experience of visiting 'Mom and Dad's future resting place.' And this is what struck me: for my parents, and many other adults, making those arrangements is an incredibly under appreciated act of charity!
I believe it is an act of charity of the same likeness as what Paul is calling the Thessalonians to do. They are minding their own affairs. Not in a selfish me-centered way, but in authentic care for the burdens they don't want to place on their loved ones and their community. So often we see charity as alleviating the burdens of those around us by what we provide for them. I don't think that is enough though. I think Paul is calling us to examine our lives. He is calling us to see how we, despite all our charitable giving, are living in such a way as to irresponsibly burden others.
The thing is, for many of us this examination doesn't have to be deep and strenuous. How many of us could manage our time better so that fixing meals doesn't always fall on our spouse? How many of us could go out of our way to learn a little bit more about our faith so that all the responsibility of our education didn't fall on the shoulders of priests who are already stretched thin? How many of us could be less frivolous with our spending so more of our money could go to our families and those in need? How many of us could get up on time and get ready quickly so that we didn't cause those we are traveling with undue stress? How many of us could think just a second longer before we speak so that our words are kinder, more gentle, and yet just as truthful? And these are just a few ways that our own responsible living could undoubtedly lead to community of charity that is a little closer to receiving the praise Paul gave the Thessalonians.
- Spencer Hargadon