{"id":13762,"date":"2022-08-07T00:00:46","date_gmt":"2022-08-06T23:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/turski.blog\/?p=13762"},"modified":"2022-08-07T00:00:46","modified_gmt":"2022-08-06T23:00:46","slug":"19th-sunday-in-ordinary-time-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/?p=13762","title":{"rendered":"19th Sunday in Ordinary Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSee that you are dressed for action.\u201d<\/em> Part of this opening line of today\u2019s gospel reading could be a neat slogan you can put on a T-shirt: Dressed for action. But \u2018would it be a proper outfit for just any action? I suppose an entire line of fashionable sportswear could be produced and marketed with such a catchy phrase but there are many walks of life where such clothes would be inappropriate or not fit for purpose. So, this short call from Jesus has a depth of meaning going well beyond a catchy phrase.<\/p>\n

\u201cSee that you are dressed for action.\u201d<\/em> Firstly, this call appeals to our ability for reasonable thinking or discernment. The imperative form of the verb – see<\/em> – is connected to the subject: action.<\/em> Finding the right outfit depends on the correct recognition of what\u2019s needed. As an outdoor enthusiast, I learned a long time ago that selecting suitable clothing can be literally a matter of life and death. Similarly, I tend to wear appropriate personal protective equipment when I\u2019m using power tools or work in potentially hazardous environments. In a broader sense, that requires imagination; the ability to predict potential negative scenarios and act accordingly to avoid damage or injury. This kind of ability is rarely given; most of the time it is developed by learning from mistakes – our own or – preferably \u2013 other people’s. I\u2019m seemingly stating the obvious but everyday life provides us with plenty of examples of how this kind of thinking isn\u2019t as common as it supposes to be\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cSee that you are dressed for action.\u201d<\/em> It\u2019s not enough to know what\u2019s required. Proper discernment is the vital first step but only if it\u2019s followed by correct decisions. Knowledge in itself doesn\u2019t have the power to change things as substance abusers know all too well. Most of them know perfectly well that their addiction is detrimental to their physical and\/or mental health, their families and other relationships, their finances and so on. But such knowledge rarely changes anything; their dependence on harmful habits is their only way of dealing with life. Knowledge itself doesn\u2019t change lives; decisions do. The imperative \u201cSee that you are dressed for action\u2019<\/em> is a call to make the right decisions based on prior correct discernment. That leads to the final stage: action!<\/p>\n

Jesus used this rather catchy phrase to instruct his followers on the need to be ready to act in a correct way when the time to do so comes. He illustrated his teaching by recalling two images; one of the servants waiting for their master\u2019s return and the other of a burglar, breaking in at his most opportune time when the householder didn\u2019t expect anything to happen. Jesus concluded his teaching with the words: \u201cYou too must stand ready because the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.\u201d<\/em> Traditionally we interpret those words as referring to either the return of Jesus at the end of time or the time of our own final departure from this life. But either way, it\u2019s a long time away and consequently, there\u2019s no sense of urgency in our thinking. Sometimes, when people say \u201csee you tomorrow\u201d <\/em>or the like, I jokingly say \u201cif I\u2019m still alive.\u201d<\/em> Quite often, seeing the horror in their eyes I have to quickly follow up with the phrase \u201cI\u2019m not planning to be dead\u201d<\/em> to assure them that I don\u2019t have any suicidal thoughts. More or less, we all expect the Grim Reaper to stay away for a very, very long time. But there\u2019s another way of reading those words of Jesus: \u201cthe Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect\u201d;<\/em> a way that ought to keep us on our toes with a greater sense of urgency.<\/p>\n

We know well this classic passage: \u201cWhen I was hungry, you gave me food to eat. When I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink\u201d <\/em>and so on. Jesus praised those who had shown Him active charity in various forms. When those praised expressed their astonishment – \u201cLord, when did we see you hungry and give you food? When did we see you thirsty and give you something to drink?\u201d<\/em> Jesus explained: \u201canything you did for any of my people you also did for me.\u201d (Matthew 25:31-45)<\/em> Jesus\u2019 final return or our own death can be a long way off yet, but there are plenty of opportunities around us to practise spiritual dressing for action every day, be it by making positive changes to our lives or by helping others, or preferably by both. The most important thing is not to postpone it for an unspecified \u2018later\u2019.<\/em> A note on the barber’s shop door said: \u201cTomorrow I will shave for free\u201d. <\/em>Clients read the note and to save a few pounds decided to return the next day. Then they read the note on the door: \u201cTomorrow I will shave for free\u201d.<\/em> Don\u2019t postpone to tomorrow what you can do today. Tomorrow might not come. If it does, it will offer fresh opportunities. \u201cSee that you are dressed for action.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Image by Hilary Clark<\/a> from Pixabay<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cSee that you are dressed for action.\u201d Part of this opening line of today\u2019s gospel reading could be a neat slogan you can put on a T-shirt: Dressed for action. But \u2018would it be a proper outfit for just any action? I suppose an entire line of fashionable sportswear could be produced and marketed with such a catchy phrase but there are many walks of life where such clothes would be inappropriate or not fit for purpose. So, this short call from Jesus has a depth of meaning going well beyond a catchy phrase.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","category-year-c"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13762\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tad.scot\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}