Insights on gifts, worship and 'being'

October 1, 2006 -- 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Bishop Robert Morneau

	Bishop Robert Morneau
	Questions for reflection: 1. What gifts has God given to you? Have you returned them to the Lord? 2. How do we know if our worship is "right"? 3. What meaning do you assign to being an "ontological sibling"?

In late August, Fr. Robert Barron, a theologian from Mundelein Seminary and priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, gave a retreat to the bishops from Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Fr. Barron is a gifted teacher and shared with us the fruits of years of study and prayer. Three insights from the retreat relate well to our readings for this Sunday.

"The Law of the Gift!" This law describes a pattern in which God sends forth gift upon gift to us, His creatures. We are to receive those gifts with gratitude, nurture and share them, and give them back to the Lord as an offering. But God does not need our gifts, so in the offering the gifts bounce back to us but now elevated, multiplied and intensified. This is the law of the gift: God's giving, our offering back, the return of the gift in even greater abundance.

God is a Giver. Not only does God give His Spirit to Moses but also to Eldad and Medad and seventy other elders. But it is a gift not just for them but for the people. So they ventured forth to fulfill their prophetic word, speaking of God's ways. The same thing happens in the Gospel when a person expels demons in the name of Jesus. What is interesting is that in both cases, an attempt was made to stop these individuals from sharing their gifts. And, as the reading indicates, this attempted blockage was grounded in jealousy.

Each of us is called to participate in "the law of the gift." Each of us, through baptism, confirmation, and the Eucharist, has been given a portion of God's Spirit and some unique gift. Our vocation is to receive that gift, cherish and nurture it, and then share it with others as we offer it back to the Lord. Obviously, we are talking here about a stewardship way of life, a life that is aware that God is the origin of all that we have and are.

A second insight from Fr. Barron's retreat: right worship leads to a right society; misguided worship leads to a sick society. In the letter of James, we see a sick society. The apostle attacks wanton luxury, wages that are withheld from the farmhands, the killing of the just man, idolatrous wealth. Not a pretty picture. And why are things so disordered? Basically, the chaos of a corrupt society is due to wrong worship.

We hear every strong language in the Gospel directed at behavior that is harmful. Cut off your hand, cut off your foot, tear out your eye if any of these organs cause you to sin. We must come to realize that God has given us the gift of life and all of our faculties so that we might be participants in divine life. Right worship puts us in proper relationship with God. We are to be aligned to God's will and thereby use our feet, hands, eyes, and heart to fulfill our true vocation, i.e., our call to holiness. By giving a drink of water to others in love demonstrates that we live out our worship in a fitting way.

A final insight from the retreat: We are "ontological siblings." When we see life from the highest point of view, we come to realize that we are all brothers and sisters. Ontology refers to "being." Ontological siblings means that at the deepest level all of us are members of a single family since God is Father of all. It is in Christ that we are empowered to live out this reality. Jesus is clear: "Anyone who is not against us is with us." This sense of solidarity, that we are all members of the Mystical Body of Christ, has the power to transform our society. Our Gospel acclamation says it well: "Your word, O Lord, is truth; make us holy in the truth."

(Bp. Morneau is the auxiliary bishop of the Green Bay Diocese and pastor of Resurrection Parish in Allouez.)