Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first native-born American
saint. At 19, she married a wealthy businessman, William Seton. They
had five children before he died, when she was only 29. Two years later she
left the Episcopal Church and became a Roman Catholic. As a result, she was
denied financial help from family and friends. At the age of 31, she had to
shift for herself and raise five children in the process. Yet, before she died
at the age of 46, she founded the first American parish school, the first
American orphanage, and the first native American community of religious women—the Daughters of Charity.
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How dedicated to following Christ are we— through thick and
thin? “I shall be full of courage, so that with my whole being I shall bring
honor to Christ, whether I live or die.” Philippians 1:20
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In his imprisonment Paul is faced
with a real dilemma. What is to be preferred: life or death? For his part Paul
would rather die and be with Christ. The affirmation is an important one
because it recognizes a “being with Christ” after death and before the second
coming. Yet as far as the earthly community is concerned, it is better that he
lives and be of service to them. They will be able to boast in Christ Jesus all
the more if he returns to them. He feels confident that he will live on for
their benefit.
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By and large, we have the etiquette and the decorum to
be shown our seats in a function or at a dinner reception. We certainly don't
want to be embarrassed to take a seat we assumed to be ours only to be told
otherwise. Nonetheless the parable of Jesus tells us that we have this innate
desire to be honoured and maybe even exalted. Because it cannot be denied that
we liked to be looked up too. For some it may even be an obsession. But for all
the adulation and limelight that we might get, what and how will it matter in
eternity?
In the 1st reading, we hear of St. Paul's dilemma. He
wants to be with Christ but yet he knows he had to stay on for a while in order
to help the early Christians progress in their faith. Yet St. Paul also knew
that all praise and honour is to be given to God alone.
So, let us be aware of our tendency to be in the
limelight and receive the applause. Yet all this does not matter in eternity.
What matters then is that we continue to praise and glorify the Lord.
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Our Lord invites us to his table.
He knows that we are people with faults, people who have hurt him and others,
by the wrong we done and the good we have failed to do. Knowing who we are, he
still loves us and invites us as his friends to join him at his table. Let us
humbly take part in his meal and ask the Lord to make us more open to the
humble, to people who have erred, and to the poor.
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Let us Pray: Our Father, who lift up the lowly, your Son Jesus came
into our world as the servant of all and he cherished the helpless. With him,
make us respect and appreciate the weak, the defenseless and the humble, and
accept to be numbered among them. Dispose us to help them and to seek their
help, for you have poured out your mercy on us too, through Jesus Christ our
Lord.
