Friday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Tensions are high. With our country’s election day less than two weeks away (and voting having already begun) in the midst of so much political division, there seems to be fear and anger and suspicion not only around us, but within us, our families and our churches. This is the 21st century, and yet today’s reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (4:1-6) from the 1st century speaks to us in this present time. Are we willing to listen?
The author of this letter (believed to be a follower of Paul after his death) emphasizes the importance of unity among Christians, certainly still relevant today. Urging the people of Ephesus (and us) to live in a manner “worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love,” he goes on to remind them (and us) that there is one Body, one Spirit, one God who is Father (Parent) of us all. In other words, we are called to be united as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Now let’s be realistic, brothers and sisters don’t always get along. Siblings can and do disagree, fight, anger and offend each other. And yet there is usually the hope and desire to reconcile, to make amends, to be reunited in the love that is shared between the ones who live and learn and grow together through a familial bond. So too, we are called to be reconciled to our sisters and brothers in Christ.
As today’s somewhat perplexing gospel passage from Luke (12:54-59) reminds us, we are called to reconcile with our “opponent,” ideally making an effort to “settle” with them before getting to court. How much more, then, are we called to reconcile with humility, gentleness, and patience our own siblings in Christ?
Reflecting further on the letter to the Ephesians, how, in these coming weeks, can we strive to “preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace”? When fear and anger tempt us back to an “us versus them” mentality, let us pray for the grace to love each other as children of one God, “who is over all and through all and in all,” even our so-called “opponent.”
~Eileen Miller