Saturday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Two years ago my husband and I were fortunate to see Spectacle - a musical all about the founders of the Marianist order - at its showing on UD’s campus. A recurring theme throughout this musical is that we as the church are called to be a spectacle of saints. We are called to love in such a way that the world takes notice. As followers of Christ we are not called to simply “go with the flow” of our society but rather to challenge the norm so that we are creating a society and a world that is fueled by love and God’s will.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes about the way in which he and the other disciples are seen as a spectacle within the world. They have chosen to live lives so radical from the common place, that they are now viewed as a spectacle within society. They are not concerned with following the day to day norms of their world but rather are concerned with living out Christ’s message.
In the same way, we see this “spectacle” being lived out in our Gospel, as the Pharisees challenge Jesus about his disciples picking and eating wheat on the Sabbath. Jesus did not come to abide by the laws of humans but rather to show us the way of God.
As followers of Christ let us use these examples here as a guide for how we are to live - not focused on the rules and formalities of our world, but rather willing to be a spectacle for Christ. In a time in which our world is divided, separated, angry and broken, let us be a “Spectacle of Saints” - saints who choose goodness, conversation, dialogue and growth. May we follow Paul's example and be able to say the same as him, “When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we respond gently”Following Christ’s call is not always going to be comfortable or easy. It will stretch us and cause us to grow in uncomfortable and challenging ways. Let us ask God to help us and give us the strength to make ourselves spectacles of saints.
- AJ Grimm