Thursday of Week 16 in Ordinary Time (Year II)
Jeremiah 2:1-3,7-8,12-13 | Psalm 35:6-11 | Matthew 13:10-17
For anyone who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough; but from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. (Matthew 13:12)
The Bible has had a outsized impact on the development of the English language; over time, may few terms and phrases have been coined with reference to specific events and people (e.g. “Judas goat”, “you reap what you sow“). The above passage is no exception; today I learned that “the rich get richer, while the poor get poorer” is also known as the Matthew effect.
However, Jesus wasn’t speaking about worldly riches here. Instead, he was making a pointed reference to how those with a firm foundation in faith only get stronger and more passionate over time, while those who only dabble with Catholicism soon lose interest and either become “zombies” who attend Sunday masses out of misplaced obligation, or leave the church entirely.
I’ve found that to be personally true: during my “wilderness years”, going to mass at my college chapel was a chore, and even though I’d joined the chapel choir, my heart really wasn’t in it. It was only when my oldest friend began challenging my long-professed “belief” in God that I started to research my faith in earnest, and now I can’t stop blogging about it. ?
As St. Paul reminded the Corinthians:
Your body, you know, is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you since you received him from God. (1 Corinthians 6:19)
Therefore, our faith gets healthy the same way our bodies do, through exercise. Stop researching and pondering our beliefs, and they’ll go to seed like couch potatoes. Eeew.
Lord, we need spiritual health, now more than ever in this dark and dreary world. Remind us daily to actively reunite ourselves with You through spiritual exercises and contemplation of Your Holy Word, so that like St. Paul, we may fight the good fight to the end, run the race to the finish, and keep our faith in You strong and resilient. (2 Timothy 4:7)
Amen.