Sunday, October 5, 2014

27th Week, Ordinary Time, Monday, 06-10-14

Galatians 1:6-12 / Luke 10:25-37

To "go with the flow" is the mantra of the world and it has always been as such.

To find your way up and about, to rub shoulders with the rich and powerful, to be with the "in" circle, one may have to give up some principles and go with the flow.

Not to go with the flow would mean to swim up-stream and there we will face the powerful torrents and undercurrents.

But to go with the flow is like being a dead fish; dead fish and other lifeless things go with the flow.

In the 1st reading, St. Paul was astonished at the promptness with which the Galatians had turned away from the Good News that he had preached to them to follow another version of the Good News.

That other version may well be the "good news" of the world, which tells them to "go with the flow" and to "seek approval" from the world.

St. Paul gave a severe warning - anyone who preaches a version of the Good News that is different from what he and the apostles preached is to be condemned.

Even when it comes to being a neighbour to someone in need, we will be tempted to "go with the flow". Like the priest and the Levite in the gospel parable, we may just want to pass on the other side and move on and go with the flow.

The Good News of Jesus Christ is about loving God and neighbour. It will mean that we have to swim up-stream and feel the force of the torrents of the world.

To go with the flow of the world would mean that we are like dead fish or debris.