Scripture:
Reflection:
Traction and Distraction
St. Paul of Tarsus is said to have written this Letter to the Ephesians from a prison cell; his future is bleak, yet his words are full of hope and encouragement. Paul has already experienced a profound joy while observing the salt-of-the-earth goodness of believers in an early faith community in Jesus Christ.
He then pleads for unity. “Make every effort to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace,” he writes.
The word diabolic, or devilish, comes from the Greek word, ballein, meaning “to throw.” It’s where we get the English word, ball. So, diabolic means to throw apart or to divide. In Goethe’s Faust, for example, when Mephistopheles enters the stage he announces, “I am the spirit who always divides.” The opposite of diabolic is symbolic, which literally means to throw together. It’s why we speak of sacraments as symbolic; the grace of Eucharist or Reconciliation binds us together when geography or hurt feelings can separate us. If we seek an example of evil today it is that force which divides us rather than unites us. POLARIZATION.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus scolds the crowd for failing to appreciate the signs of the times. He repeatedly urges them to pay attention, stay awake, and recognize the present moment. Sometimes our greatest wound is not one of the capital sins like pride, anger, lust or greed. Today it might be distractions. Because our daily lives are saturated with interruptions — from cell phones and social media to emails and pixels of light — all demanding our attention or traction. Distractions.
Perhaps today I could grow in holiness simply by (what the Synod keeps thundering) LISTENING, giving my attention to a person at lunch, reading the signs of my time, traction, preserving the unity of the Spirit.
Fr. Jack Conley, CP, is the local superior of St. Vincent Strambi Community in Chicago, Illinois.