January 31 |
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Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Mt. 5:13-16 |
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| Background: St. Matthew's "Sermon on the Mount" was a sermon which was never given. Rather it is a construct, a literary device, the Evangelist uses to pull together in one place teachings of Jesus which appear in different places in the earlier traditions. It is a summary of much of what Jesus said and taught (as this was remembered in later years), a compendium of his wisdom. Moreover the compendium is designed specifically for the instruction, not of the crowds to whom Jesus preached in Galilee, but of the early Christian Community. In the passage we read today Jesus, as edited by the Evangelist, is warning the early Christians that he and his good news will be judged by their behavior. It is well for Christians today to reflect on that truth. If Christianity has a terrible image with many people, it is in substantial part the fault of Christians. |
read the padre |
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Story: Once upon a time there were two women who had been friends from the time they met in an English literature class in high school. Both of them loved the class and shared their dreams of being authors themselves some day. They went on to college where they majored in English and both wrote short stories and plays. It turned out that one was a very good writer while the other demonstrated only average creative skills. However, the better writer was a perfectionist and so after graduation she took a job editing legal briefs. The time demands of her busy employers left her no time for creative writing. The other woman became an English teacher at their alma mater and, in her spare time, wrote short stories. Eventually some of her stories appeared in women’s magazines. One caught the eye of a television producer and became the basis for a long running series. Her perfectionist friend celebrated with her when she won an Emmy but still continued to edit other people’s works, occasionally saddened at her failure to reach her dreams. |
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