Memorial of Saint Monica

 Lectionary: 430

 Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong,

Like Saint Paul, recent spiritual writers often urge their readers to consider their own calling. Rather than pretend they are like the heroes they admire, we should remember who we are and where we came from. A study of one's genogram -- a pictorial display of family relationships and medical history -- might remind me that the fruit doesn't fall very far from the tree. The problems I encounter today have a long history, often ones I preferred not to remember since they concern misadventures, family secrets, and closeted skeletons. 

Historians of the Bible assure us that the Apostle's congregation in Corinth was anything but promising. The word Corinthian still connotes dissolution. Washed out sailors, prostitutes, shifty-eyed merchants, common thieves: they were the world's riffraff who'd somehow washed up in that port city because they could drift no farther. Even their enthusiasm for the Lord with its raucous laughter, loud sobbing, and shouted outbursts discouraged inquiries about their faith. 

But Saint Paul knew their hearts and the Spirit that moved them. He'd begun the conversion of Europe by approaching washer women on a riverbank; and later, had failed miserably among his academic peers in Athens. It was obvious that the Gospel belonged to fishers and tax collectors, the foolish and weak of the world. Only the childlike could appreciate the Truth he preached. 

"Consider your own calling!" Entertainment and social media continually throw bizarre images of success and happiness at us. They suggest we should be happier, prettier, and freer. Who we are is never good enough. Where we began was not the right place. 

Consider means "Stop, remember and appreciate" how the Lord has been with you and your people for so long.

Recently, we pondered Ezekiel's shocking image of Israel as a newborn infant left to die in her own placenta on the desert floor. You were nobody, he seems to say, until the LORD adopted you. Do not forget that God chose you in the beginning and blessed you with every good gift. 

Sadly, stratification seems to come with every human culture. Habitually, if not instinctively, we seek our social peers in a crowd. But the Spirit of the Lord teaches us to flock with his disciples. Indeed it is a flocking spirit, like the instinct which impels birds, fish, and horses to fly, swim, and gallop together. It separates us from pretentious uppers as we recognize our own minority. It remembers where we came from and calls us into the Church, which is immaculate and sacred.