Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator
I am still at the Province Chapter with my brother Franciscans. On Wednesday, we began the task of electing our leadership for the next six years. We chose the Provincial Minister and the Provincial Vicar early in the day. However, in the evening we were unable to muster the energy to finish the election process for the six councilors who will advise them. Sad, but true; we aren't as young as we were. Our energies flag more easily.
In the Second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, we read that Paul is being challenged by other missionary preachers. He had some competition. However, his composition did not come from outside the Church; it came from inside the Church. Sad, but true! The early Christian community was divided by the issue of whether a Gentile convert had to become a Jewish convert before they could be baptized. This conflict and its resolution in chronicled for us in the Acts of the Apostles written by St. Luke.
However, here we have evidence of this conflict in St. Paul's writings. Remember that all of St. Paul's writings which appear in the Christian Scriptures were written before the Gospels and before the Acts of the Apostles. St. Luke is able to write about the resolution of the discord wrought by the "Judaizers" because he has lived through the conflict and resolution.
This conflict may seem strange to us. We are more aware of people outside the Catholic Church who are luring away baptized Catholics. Paul's difficulty, however, is an internal affair. He writes that he does not have to take a back seat to these other missionaries even though they have been members of the Christian community longer than he has. Paul insists that he has preached the Gospel, not his opinion about whether Gentiles need to become Jews before they can be Christian. He does not back down one bit but remains stalwart in his contention that Gentiles should be welcome in the Christian community with or without being circumcised.
There is something quite inspiring in St. Paul stubborn refusal to back down from the Gospel message of inclusion. While stubbornness can be a fault in one's personality, when it comes to our faith it is a virtue. The grace of the Holy Spirit with the gifts of courage and fortitude stood Paul in good stead in his struggle to have the Christian community recognize the call that God was issuing to Gentiles.
It takes courage and fortitude to keep the faith, but it is also needed by those who suffer chronic illness and/or disability. Many of St. Paul's letters make reference to the notion of redemptive suffering. This is truly the CUSAN vocation.