Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
I attended Mass this morning at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Greensboro on a beautiful albeit very cold Sunday morning. The homilist today was the Pastor, Monsignor Marcaccio, who focused his remarks mostly on today's 2nd reading. Indeed, his homily rang a bell for me and much of this is inspired by his homily.
St. Paul's writings to the Church of Corinth were meant to correct error and encourage perseverance in in the faith. Paul does three things in this short reading. First we are reminded in anything and everything we do, do so for God's greater glory. Even something as simple as eating or drinking, do so for God. What a reminder for us today. How many of us can honestly say that all that we do is motivated primarily for giving Glory to God? Hopefully, upon prayer, reflection and a sincere examination of conscience we can point to this reality. It is true however that the pace of everyday life can try and squeeze God out. St. Paul's encouragement to the Corinthians is the same encouragement for us today. We are challenged then to put our focus back on God, in the everyday, in the small and the large, in the spectacular and the mundane, at work, at school, in factories and college universities, at recreation and play, at family gatherings, while shopping, enjoying friends at social events, yes, in eating and drinking. In all things, give all the glory to God. Ad Majorem Dei Glorium.
St. Paul's second point is: give no offense. Yes, as followers of Christ and Christian witness to the whole world, we are called to not give offense. This can mean for us today, both within our own families and close friends and the whole world. Do we give offense because someone belongs to a different religion or has no faith? Do we give offense because someone's politics are different from ours? Do we give offense because someone looks different or acts different from us? Do we give offense when someone hurts us, disappoints us and just let's us down? Do we give offense when someone else accomplishes something and we find ourselves envious and jealous? You get the point. St. Paul's encouragement is direct: give no offense. Of course, when we are aware of this, we are called then to make reconciliation, both sacramentally and to those we may have offended. And what about those who offend us? As hard as it may be, we are called to forgive, and give no offense in return.
Finally St. Paul tells us that be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. They say that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. When people imitate us, would they be imitating Christ as well? That's a reflection we all should take to prayer. We must discern first of all am I about imitating Christ and being such a witness to that imitation that if others imitate me, they too will be imitating Christ? St. Paul's personal journey from Christ hater, by persecuting Christians, to being the Apostle to the Gentiles was transformative and took complete and total surrender to Jesus Christ. Like us, no matter our background or our past, we too can be like St. Paul where we can say confidently to any brother or sister we encounter, imitate me because I imitate Christ.
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