Memorial of "Padre Pio," Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest

Lectionary: 448

I charge you before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who gave testimony under Pontius Pilate for the noble confession, to keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ that the blessed and only ruler will make manifest at the proper time, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, and whom no human being has seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal power. Amen.

Closing his letter to Timothy, Saint Paul reminds him (and us) of where we stand in time; that is, between that moment when Jesus made his noble confession of faith before Pontius Pilate, and the "appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

To be human we need a sense of where we are both geographically and chronologically. Rising from an unusually deep nap in mid-afternoon the first thing we ask is, "What time is it?" Most often, under normal circumstances, we know what time it is when we get up in the morning, take our lunch or retire at night. For as long as historians can remember people have kept track of the time. There are records of Romans complaining of living too much by the sundial! Rarely are we caught off guard and discover that time has slipped away.

Likewise, as Christians we want to know the time. Indeed some Christians have studied the scriptures like ancient magicians studying the entrails of chickens to determine when the Lord might make his long awaited appearance. They do this despite the specific teaching of Jesus:

“But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

In today's teaching this chapter in time began with Jesus standing before Pilate and making his noble confession. Paul would remind us that we too must make our "noble confession" by keeping the commandments without stain or reproach. 

We stand under judgement all of the time; it is both God's judgement and our neighbors'. They're watching to see if we act like the Christians we pretend to be. Sometimes their notions are unrealistic or self-serving. Panhandlers may think we owe them charity if they see us coming from the church. 

But very often they are right! The human being has a sense of right and wrong and they know when we're doing wrong, even if they sympathize with our misbehavior. They might even show some compassion for our hypocrisy because they recognize it in themselves. 

But they want, need and deserve inspiration. Our non-Christian, non-practicing neighbors need to see married couples holding hands in public; parents and children enjoying one another; and volunteers committing themselves to works of mercy. They need to see spirited church ceremonies if they happen to look in on us on a Sunday morning. They need to see something attractive in our behavior. 

Our life of faith can fascinate our neighbors because we are fascinated by, and live always in the light of 

the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, and whom no human being has seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal power. Amen.