FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - JULY 7, 2024

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Within the philosophy of the human person, we have been able to recognize that we have both an exterior life (which the outside world sees) and an interior life (which only we see). As Catholics, we know that the interior life is driven by our soul, and through this interior life, our spirituality and our consciences are formed. Our interior selves drive us to behave in the world as we are compelled, for better or worse. We also know that our lives are not our own; we are absolutely in need of a community to help guide us and form our interior selves just as much as we form our own. The Church community exists so that each one of us, if we are open, may have our interior lives conform to the exterior lives that are expected of each one of us.

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The ego, which can be best defined as a personal understanding of one’s self, can also become a source of pride. No one wants to be told what to do when they feel they understand themselves better than anyone else, and certainly no one wants to be critiqued. However, in a very simplified way, the Church does this: we are told what to do through the precepts of the Church for how we are to practice the faith, and we can take the fraternal correction that exists within a faith community as criticism if we let our egos get in the way. We must understand that there will be moments when we do need to be corrected, to be told what to do, to be humbled by others so that we may not develop a warped view of ourselves. In this Sunday’s first reading, God sends Ezekiel to be His voice to His rebellious people. God also warns that they may heed Ezekiel’s warnings or continue to rebel, but they will at least know that he is speaking on behalf of God. This tends to be the case when someone is in need of correction: they may listen to the correction or ignore it, but it’s most important that they at least be told that they are following the wrong path. Paul in this Sunday’s second reading provides a wonderful example of humbling yourself when you are in need of correction. Though he doesn’t explain exactly what it is, he tells the Church in Corinth that a thorn in the flesh was given to him to keep him from “being too elated.” This seems unnecessary, but Paul understands that in his elated state, he found himself prone to ignore the sufficiency of God’s grace. If someone is correcting us from the community, we should see it as Paul does - difficulties and uncomfortable moments remind us that God’s grace is sufficient, and that the community plays a pivotal role in our inner formation.

All correction and direction offered by the Church is not offered out of a sense of control, but rather a sense of love, specifically the love of Christ. Christ became so hated by his own people because he offered this fraternal correction to those who needed to hear it most. He never shamed repentant sinners, but instead reminded those who should have known best that their interior lives were not in sync with their exterior lives. For those who would have known him best, like those who grew up with him as we hear in this Sunday’s Gospel, he had no right to do so. They knew his origin, they knew he was not some great king or prophet, but a humble son of a carpenter. How could someone with this background give advice on how others ought to live? While we know that Christ was so much more than his origin, there will still be people in our own Church community who we may not respect enough to listen to when they correct us or offer guidance. We must remind ourselves that we are a community responsible for forming each other, regardless of our roles. Do not attempt to form your own inner self by yourself; allow those within the community to help guide you and form you as it is meant to be.