Memorial of Saint Louis of France, patron of Secular Franciscan Order

Lectionary: 425

We give thanks to God always for all of you,
remembering you in our prayers,
unceasingly calling to mind your work of faith and labor of love
and endurance in hope of our Lord Jesus Christ,
before our God and Father....

The best teachers of children demonstrate an affectionate appreciation for their students, even when they must address foolishness and misbehavior. They have no need to prove their own superior power, authority, wisdom, or intelligence to their inferiors. 

Similarly, Saint Paul brought no extra baggage as he approached a new congregation. The itinerant preacher could not demonstrate to gullible people his superior wealth or power; he had none. He could speak to them only of the Gospel and allow them to respond to the persuasion of the Holy Spirit, which appeared in their hospitable welcome to him. Wherever he went, the Spirit prepared openings in advance, and connections he could use to promote the Gospel. Grateful new disciples readily provided food, shelter, and protection. 

Nor did his baggage include an inordinate need for emotional support. Living by faith, he was sure of himself and his Gospel. Like the apostles who had been personally trained by the Lord before his death and resurrection, Paul had been trained by the best teachers of the Jewish tradition. The Gospel fit his learning like a key to a lock; it opened vistas of insight and wisdom his teachers had never imagined. With his native genius and the Gospel, he thought thoughts that no one had thought before, and they too belonged to the Message of Salvation. 

Hearing heavy pronouncements like today's gospel -- passages like:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.

You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men.

You do not enter yourselves,

nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.

Paul would not lord it over them by insinuating threats or promises of retribution. They came from the Master and were very real, but he did not make himself the wrath of God to persuade his disciples to take the threats seriously. Rather, like the Lord Jesus, he led them in the practices of penance. 

That is how the Church must address the crises of our time. Blaming and shaming are silly and ridiculous. Honest ownership of the sorry state we have made of things should begin with the Church, rather than a scolding press or social media. "We have sinned; we and our ancestors have sinned...."