WORD 2day: Friday, 21st week in Ordinary time
August 26, 2022: 1 Corinthians 1: 17-25; Matthew 25: 1-13
The world today has its own definition of wisdom and foolishness, success and failure, acceptable and inacceptable, desirable and undesirable, etc. Everything is calculated, to put it simply, in terms of benefits and gains in comparison to the effort and investment. Convenience and comfort seem unfailing criteria of choice. What is comfortable and convenient, what does not disturb my daily routine and normal life style... that is to be considered acceptable and the others have to be avoided as unnecessary! This is what the world teaches, but can these be Christian parameters?
The Christian paradigm, as Paul says is the Cross and the hope that it projects. However hard we may try, no other paradigm can make sense of this. The sacrifices we make and the selfless goodwill we have towards others are true Christian parameters of righteousness. When we try to be good, when we intend to do good to others, when we decide to be righteous, we are bound to face problems, pressures and sometimes even persecutions!
Being good and doing good without expecting anything in return or without looking for its credits, is the cross we are called to embrace on a daily basis if we wish to really belong to the Bridegroom! The Cross is not just a sign or a symbol... it is a life style, the lifestyle that a disciple of Christ has to adopt. It is this grammar of Cross alone that can differentiate truly between wisdom and foolishness!