Wednesday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s first reading, St. Paul employs two helpful metaphors for our lives as disciples – eating and gardening. Both of his exhortations around these themes serve to ground us in Christ, remind us to remain humble, and call us to conversion. Today, let us consider what we’re consuming, who we are emulating, and how we are contributing within God’s Kingdom.
Paul finds the church in Corinth to be stuck in a spiritual infancy, drinking only milk, not mature enough to consume solid food. This scripture serves as an invitation to each of us to evaluate our relative spiritual maturity and to contemplate what we consume on a daily basis. How much of our day do we spend feeding on God’s word or other spiritual resources? How much of our day do we spend consuming the news, feeding at the financial markets, and visiting the buffet of entertainment? None of the latter things are wrong, but we will only “grow up” into those things that we actively consume.
Paul observed the believers in Corinth lining up behind “celebrity” church leaders. It appears the disciples there found a sense of identity and worth from aligning themselves with certain esteemed leaders. If we’re not careful, it’s easy to fall into that same trap. I will admit, I think Fr. Satish and our parish staff are rock stars! But I can’t let myself develop an unhealthy pride in our IC parish, or an unhealthy emulation of our leaders. I recall as a young believer I really admired and looked up to one of the older, more spiritually mature women in the church I attended. As I gained some spiritual maturity, I realized that I was seeking to emulate her as she emulated Christ rather than keeping my focus on Christ and following him alone. It’s good to have the example of Christian witnesses to inspire us, but not let their example overshadow Christ himself.
This first reading is really a call to conversion. A maturing disciple advances in her ability to study and apply God’s word and church teaching; a growing disciple keeps his focus on Christ, not on other believers or leaders. Finally, a maturing disciple is a humble co-laborer in the garden of God’s Kingdom, each with a unique role to play. I pray for the graces to serve as Paul did, recognizing that his role was to plant or water and then give God the glory for the harvest.
Our parish website contains a wealth of resources for adult faith formation. Perhaps today is a good day to take advantage of one of those resources or opportunities to seek to grow in your discipleship. Maybe it’s a day to resolve to read and study God’s word a bit more intentionally each day. Today could be the day that you’ll contact a few other people to explore forming a small group for bible study and fellowship. Whatever you may have been putting off regarding your growth as a disciple, may you seize the opportunity today to take a step in that direction. May the Lord give you whatever graces you need today for your growth as his disciple. Amen!
- Elizabeth Wourms