We begin yet another of St. Paul’s letters and listen to the familiar greeting that comes at the beginning of his letters. What do these greetings tell us?
As I pondered St. Paul’s words to St. Paul, I became aware of the fact that I, like St. Paul, and you for that matter, are similar in that we have all been given great gifts by God our creator. God has deemed us trustworthy just as St. Paul was considered trustworthy. Like St. Paul, I, indeed all of us, are sinners and have been, like St. Paul, mercifully treated by God’s forgiving mercy. St. Paul accuses himself of acting out of ignorance. I know that this is true of my own life; perhaps you can say the same of yourselves. Finally, who of us cannot state that grace, faith, and love have all been gifts from God in our lives just as they were in St. Paul’s life?
Of course, once we recognize how much we have been given, like St. Paul we must be grateful for all that God has done for us.
Because so many of St. Paul’s letters begin with sentiments of giftedness and gratitude, I think that there is also one difference that might exist when we compare ourselves to him. That difference is simply that St. Paul never seems to lose sight of these facts. I know that that is not always the case in my own life. When forced to look at all that God has done for me and, dare I say it, all that God has done for you, I wonder whether we are always conscious of all the gifts we have been given. Perhaps we sometimes take them for granted.
Once again, we are about to experience our communion with the Lord in the Eucharist. Let us approach the table with gratitude in our hearts.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator