Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 489

Thus I aspire to proclaim the Gospel
not where Christ has already been named,
so that I do not build on another's foundation,
but as it is written:
Those who have never been told of him shall see,
and those who have never heard of him shall understand.

In this passage of his letter to the Romans, Saint Paul wrote about his own peculiar calling within the Church. As he remarks in other places, the Holy Spirit inspires different people to do different things, according to their abilities and aptitudes. Some are apostles; others, administrators; and so forth. His call was to announce the Gospel to gentiles who had little knowledge of Jewish religion and culture, who had no particular expectation of a messiah or savior.

Coming to the Lord, people often find their own niche in the Church. It might be a ministry borne of a challenge or trauma they have faced. Recovering alcoholics in AA take seriously the Twelfth Step, "to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.” Who can better understand the savage demands of alcohol than the one in recovery? While others are baffled and repelled by their recurring hospitalizations and arrests, recovering addicts "get it" and offer compassion.

Some people with experience of racism within their own family, practice a dynamic outreach to different races, as if they might atone for the sins of their parents.

Many people whose loved ones are afflicted with birth defects create group homes because they see the extraordinary human beauty of their brothers and sisters.

Even before specialized medicine became a lucrative business for the ambitious, some young people aspired to be nurses and doctors because they had cared for their parents and grandparents. Sometimes their helplessness in the face of disease and death drove them into medical school.

The list goes on and on. Because we have personal experience of human suffering, and a natural compassion for fellow human beings, the Spirit of Jesus impels us to move in that direction, practicing the Gospel in those forms.

Saint Paul had a deep knowledge of Greek language, philosophy and culture; he had a natural aptitude for preaching to non-Jews. He travelled and spoke with an eagerness the original Twelve -- illiterate fishermen and tax collectors -- could hardly imagine.

During our time, we wonder how will the Church address the changing needs of today. Aging, celibate men, trained in the "thick Catholic culture" of the mid-twentieth century, can only stand back in wonder as young people joyfully celebrate the Mass and sacraments in an age of tattoos, social media and multiculturalism. They can hardly imagine the words or attitudes that the Spirit inspires.

A living faith, with some awareness of history and its lessons, assures us the Gospel will resound and the Crucified will be worshipped throughout all the Earth. We have only to watch and wait and thank God for a rebirth of wonder.