Let brotherly love continue.
Do not neglect hospitality,
for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.
Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment...
Like the other New Testament letters, Hebrews finishes with a series of specific admonitions concerning the manner of our Christian life. Each of them is worth a brief comment:
💛 Let brotherly love continue. As God is Our Father, we regard one another with the affection of brothers and sisters. Each should enjoy a certain ease in our fellowship as we work and pray together. We can laugh with and at each other. We can admit our sins and failings to one another without excuse. We can ask for help, and freely offer help, without expecting any kind of repayment. We can count on each other. And by doing so we set the pattern for biological siblings.
💛 Do not neglect hospitality.... We're eager to meet guests from other parishes and dioceses, of other cultures, languages, and nations. We want to learn how other Catholics express and live their faith. "Race" means nothing to us unless it's an opportunity to meet like minded-souls.
💛 We're mindful of prisoners. The Epistle refers to those who have been arrested for their faith. If there is no state-sponsored persecution of Catholics in the United States, there are some who express our faith by peaceful protests and risk penalties or imprisonment. There are many legal behaviors, like abortion, which we cannot abide and should oppose. And there are many unjustly imprisoned for their poverty. Wealthy people don't often go to jail. We should support ministries to the incarcerated.
💛 Let marriage be honored among all and the marriage bed be kept undefiled. Catholics believe in the indissolubility of marriage. As G.K. Chesterton said a hundred years ago, all couples are incompatible. That's because God created us male and female.
💛 Do not neglect hospitality.... We're eager to meet guests from other parishes and dioceses, of other cultures, languages, and nations. We want to learn how other Catholics express and live their faith. "Race" means nothing to us unless it's an opportunity to meet like minded-souls.
💛 We're mindful of prisoners. The Epistle refers to those who have been arrested for their faith. If there is no state-sponsored persecution of Catholics in the United States, there are some who express our faith by peaceful protests and risk penalties or imprisonment. There are many legal behaviors, like abortion, which we cannot abide and should oppose. And there are many unjustly imprisoned for their poverty. Wealthy people don't often go to jail. We should support ministries to the incarcerated.
💛 Let marriage be honored among all and the marriage bed be kept undefiled. Catholics believe in the indissolubility of marriage. As G.K. Chesterton said a hundred years ago, all couples are incompatible. That's because God created us male and female.
“I have known many happy marriages, but never a compatible one. The whole aim of marriage is to fight through and survive the instant when incompatibility becomes unquestionable. For a man and a woman, as such, are incompatible.” G.K. Chesterton
💛 Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have. Greed is the opposite of faith for it does not believe in the One who said, "I will never forsake you or abandon you." The Gospel was carried rapidly throughout the Roman Empire by hikers, stowaways, and prisoners in chains like Saint Paul and Saint Ignatius.
💛 And finally, Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. We must support our leaders, especially because we recognize them as fallible human beings like ourselves with faults, failings, and blind spots. If we obey them only when we agree them, we're missing the point altogether.
💛 And finally, Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. We must support our leaders, especially because we recognize them as fallible human beings like ourselves with faults, failings, and blind spots. If we obey them only when we agree them, we're missing the point altogether.
We make a difference because we are different. And the Gospel makes it happen.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.