Friday of Week 29 of Ordinary Time – First Reading

Commentary on Ephesians 4:1-6

Today and tomorrow we read a powerful call to unity in the Church. It is in two parts, and in today’s reading Paul speaks of the sources of unity, i.e. the elements in our Christian life which we have in common. Tomorrow he will speak rather of the variety that exists in the community.

Today, there is a general plea for unity in the church. Christians have been:

• fashioned through the Spirit into a single harmonious religious community (one body, also see Eph 4:12),
• belonging to a single Lord (in contrast to the many gods of the pagan world),
• and by one way of salvation through faith,
• brought out especially by the significance of baptism (see also Rom 6:1-11).

But Christian unity is more than adherence to a common belief. It is manifested in the exalted Christ’s gifts to individuals to serve so as to make the community more Christlike (Eph 4:11-16). This teaching on Christ as the source of the gifts is introduced in verse 8 by a citation of Psalm 68:18, which depicts Yahweh triumphantly leading Israel to salvation in Jerusalem.

According to the New American Bible

In Paul’s letter, it is understood that Christ, ascending above all the heavens, the head of the church, through his redemptive death, resurrection, and ascension, has become the source of the church’s spiritual gifts. The “descent” of Christ (Eph 4:9-10) refers more probably to the incarnation (see Phil 2:6-8) than to Christ’s presence after his death in the world of the dead. (edited)

Chapter 4 of Ephesians begins and ends with exhortations to love and forgive one another, which is part, of course, of the overall theme of unity in the Letter. In fact, the chapter lists three different threats to disunity in the community:

1. arguments between Christians (vv 1-3);
2. diversity of service in the church (vv 7-11); and
3. unorthodox teaching (vv 14-15).

Each of these threats can be dealt with by all being united together in Christ. We will see the first of these calls to unity in today’s reading.

So far Paul has taught that God brought Jew and Gentile into a new relationship to each other in the Church, and that he called on the church to give witness to his wisdom. Paul now shows how God made provision for those in the church to live and work together in unity, and to grow together into maturity.

Real unity can only be said to exist when there is a harmonious relationship between a variety of elements. It is not the same as uniformity; the last thing Paul wanted was to have a church of identical clones. The distinction between unity and uniformity is crucial in the life of the Church today.

Paul, speaking from his place of captivity (though it may not have been much more than house arrest), appeals to the Church to remain faithful to its original calling, that is, the call to be a follower of Christ. Implying that there are some divisions among them, he asks them to be more accepting and understanding of each other:

…with all humility and gentleness, with patience…

They can do this by:

…bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace…

That peace is the sign of the Spirit at work among them. And it is a truly inner peace and not just an external absence of conflict.

He then lists the gifts they all share in common. There are seven ‘unities’ listed, reflecting the Trinity, but in reverse order to normal:

• Spirit, Christ, Father
• Church, Spirit, hope
• Lord, faith in Christ, baptism
• One God

There is:

• one Body: that is, the Body of the Church with Christ as its unifying Head;
• one Spirit: the Spirit of the Father and the Son, given to them in baptism;
• one shared hope: a confident assurance that they will be called together one day to enjoy a glorious future of happiness without end, face to face with God;
• one Lord: Jesus Christ;
• one faith: faith in Jesus Christ and his Gospel;
• one baptism: referring most probably not just to a ‘baptism in the Spirit’, but to the external sacramental celebration by which one was publicly marked as a member of the community;
• one God: the Father of each one without exception, “who is above all and through all and in all”.

With such bonds linking the members together, both Jews and Gentiles, there can be no place for disunity and conflict. The links are both with the Persons of the Trinity and with the members of the community—all sharing in the one Divine Life.

Let us too remind ourselves that, today, we too as Christians have all these in common. Let us pray that we may grow more deeply aware of these common elements and they may help to bring us all closer together in a common faith, hope and love.

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Friday of Week 29 of Ordinary Time – Gospel

Commentary on Luke 12:54-59

Today we have two inter-related pieces of advice from Jesus. It is striking how simple and down to earth are the examples which Jesus uses to illustrate his teaching.

Here he takes the common phenomenon of the farmer reading the sky to forecast the weather. With experience, one can become very accurate, at least in the short-term, forecasting by observing the colour and shape of the clouds, the direction and strength of the wind and so on. The wind from the west came from the Mediterranean and so brought rain. The south wind blew from the desert and so brought hot weather.

First, Jesus asks his listeners, if they are so good at reading the weather signs, why are they not equally good at reading the signs that are taking place before their very eyes:

You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

They were now in the messianic age. Jesus has been performing one sign after another through the power of his teaching and the authority that he brings, through the healing of the sick, the feeding of the hungry, the calming of storms, the liberating of people from evil forces and so many other miraculous events.

Yet, the people do not seem to be able to see the clear hand of God in what he does. They follow him with curiosity to see what they may be able to get for themselves, but very few commit themselves to following him as disciples.

Second, he asks them:

…why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?

He urges them to solve issues here and now instead of dragging their opponents to court only to find they lose the case and end up in jail.

If that is wise advice in everyday life, how much more important to be ready when we come to face the Judge of judges? If we do not settle our affairs now, in the future it may be too late. Linking this with what has already been said, it is time for us to read the clear signs of God’s call coming through Jesus and to respond by a change of heart and behaviour (Greek, metanoia). Then, with no evidence to incriminate us, we will have nothing to fear from the Judge on that day of reckoning and accounting.

Bringing all this down to a more earthly level, we might say that in our own time, we live in an age that is litigation-crazy. In many situations, both sides often end up the losers (but not their lawyers!). The bitter aftermath can last for years.

There may be times when recourse to a court is the only way to see justice done, but very often, disputes are best worked out between the parties involved. For example, for many, the pain of marriage breakdowns can be vastly increased by litigation, and can be a source of long-lasting bitterness, especially where the arguments are over large—or even small—amounts of property.

As Christians, we need to develop a real sense of justice as shown by wanting the best for all concerned. Forgiveness and reconciliation should be a high priority for us. There should be no place in our lives for sheer vindictiveness or, perhaps worse, simply a desire to make someone suffer more cruelly than we have.

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