Having immersed ourselves for fifty days in the mystery of the resurrection and contemplating over the last three weeks the mysteries of Pentecost, Trinity and Eucharist, we now return fully to what the Church calls Ordinary Time.Doing so, we find ourselves again taking our gospel lead from St. Luke.
It should come as no surprise that in joining up with Jesus again in Luke’s gospel, we find him at a dinner party.In some sense, one could outline the whole of Luke’s gospel simply by connecting the stories of Jesus moving from one dinner party to another.
These meals that Jesus shares in are always, in one way or another, marked by the theme of forgiveness and reconciliation.In the ancient, Jewish world of Jesus, to share food was to share life, to become family.
I am, however, particularly struck by Luke’s description of those who share Jesus’ company as he goes from place to place preaching and healing.There are the Twelve and then this group of women, whose lives, Luke is very direct about pointing out, have all been touched by evil spirits or infirmities.The companions of Jesus are the broken and bedraggled of this world.
This gets me to thinking.Remember the traditional, four marks of the Church found in the Apostles Creed?“I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.”Specifically, I am reflecting on this mark of holiness.Of course the Church is holy, because God enfolds it, and God is holy.Still, calling the Church holy has sometimes confused matters.The Church, like that band of women and men following after Christ, is the gathering of the broken, burdened and bedraggled of humanity.Wherever the Church is authentically gathered, you will encounter the emotionally disturbed, morally shamed, physically vulnerable.The Church is not the gathering of the perfect and pure.The Church is the gathering of the perturbed and perplexed.
Of course, there is a reason why wounded humanity is drawn to Jesus in the Church.The Church is that place where the broken find compassion and love.The Church is that place where moral failures find hope for forgiveness and reconciliation.
And this brings us to the power of Christ, the power of the Church in Christ.The power of Christ is compassion, love, and forgiveness.This compassion is what heals the broken hearted and restores their capacity for love, to live extravagant generosity.
Where have I encountered the compassion of Christ meeting me in my failure and shame?Where do I long for that compassion today?
How has my life become a reflection of Christ’s compassion to those I encounter?
And those who enter into our community, perhaps without really knowing Christ, do they experience in us the compassionate face of Christ?