St. Paul’s message to us today is one of the most stirring calls to live a heavenly existence upon earth – be intent on things above, put on a new person, formed anew in the image of the Creator. This letter to the Colossians is almost the opposite of the letter we read just before it. The First Letter to the Thessalonians was the first of St. Paul’s letters. The Letter to the Colossians comes near the end of his ministry and was written while St. Paul languished in prison. It is not difficult to hear that St. Paul is thinking of the passing phase of earthly life at this stage of his life. When we read his exhortation in this light, it takes on special emphasis.
However, once again he states that we have already died with Christ and that our human life in hidden now in the life of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. When he appears again, our human lives will be changed to lives of glory. This is St. Paul’s rationale for telling us to think of things above, to live this life with the perspective of heavenly things.
As always, St. Paul is not afraid to translate that thought into practical language: set aside anger, quick temper, malice, insults, foul language, lying, uncleanness and evil desires. This practical language is summed up in unity, trust and charity as we are to live where there is not Greek or Jew, no circumcised or uncircumcised, no foreigners, no slaves. All are united by Christ and saved by Him. Christ must be everything in all of us.
Each time we come to the altar to partake of this Eucharistic feast, we look toward heaven and the banquet we shall all share there. It is the banquet of God’s love and carries with it the moral imperative to make Christ our be all and end all.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator