Living in the Spirit
by Fr. David M. Knight

July 29, 2024
Monday of the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time
Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus
Lectionary 401 or 607
Jer 13:1-11(401)/Jn 11:19-27 or Lk 10:38-42 (607)
Jeremiah 13:1-11: To make his point, God uses images. And graphic ones at that. His point is that no matter how close we are to God as his People, how close he has invited us to be, if we are unfaithful, we rot:
As close as the loincloth clings to a man's loins, so had I made the whole house of Israel cling to me, says the LORD; to be my people, my renown, my praise, my beauty. But they did not listen.
There is no limit to God’s goodness if we will just seek union of mind and will and heart with him. But there is no guarantee of anything if we don’t. Like a loincloth worn for days or weeks, then buried in the ground until it rots, we can become “rotted, good for nothing!”
The “triumphalists” want us to believe no major reforms are necessary in the Church. All we have to do is follow the directions of those in charge, and all will be well.
In a movie, The Poseidon Adventure, an ocean liner is turned upside-down by a tidal wave. The passengers are all in the grand ballroom, standing on what used to be the ceiling. The ship’s officers on the bridge are all drowned. The steward, the only voice of authority left, keeps repeating what he was instructed to say in emergencies: “Stay where you are! Help is on the way!” Although it is manifestly false, most passengers choose to trust blindly in the only official voice they hear. But one rebels and leads a small group in a perilous climb upwards, toward the impenetrable steel hull, which is now the roof of the ship. A rescue helicopter hears them banging helplessly on the hull, lowers blow-torchers to cut through, and rescues them. Those who obeyed the steward are all drowned.
This is Jeremiah’s point. We follow what God says or we perish. No other voice can save us. The same Church officials who preserve true doctrine can give false directions. We have to compare what they say to Scripture, Church doctrine, the voice of the Spirit within us, and the reality of our times. This is the model we find in Acts. (Identify the arguments in Acts 15:6-22.)
The last time bishops from the whole Church addressed the problems of our time was at the Second Vatican Council. We need to look at the directions set by the Spirit in that ecumenical council.
For saving ministry from day to day we look to those who are surrendering to God’s voice speaking within them, always calling us upwards.
Initiative: Be real. Don’t follow anyone with your eyes closed.
Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry

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