Laying Hold of His Sound Words

Lay hold of eternal life. // 1 Timothy 6:12

If I had a dollar for each time I read a piece of Catholic commentary, offhand words from a member of the hierarchy, or a badly written church bulletin that raised my instant ire and frustration, I would wear much nicer clothes.

My frustration boils when I see so much of what Saint Paul is talking about with Saint Timothy in today’s First Reading happening around me. It feels like there are simply so many people claiming to speak with or for the Church who do “not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Timothy 6:3). And unfortunately the arrogance, envy, rivalry, insults, and mutual friction are more than apparent in almost every sphere of Church life today. 

But as a woman who is a member of the Church I know that my actions and choices with how I deal with my own frustration can either contribute to the arrogance and friction so rife in the Church or they can provide and inspire righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Maybe that just means not getting into the mire of a comment section, or maybe it means persevering with love and clarity within my own parish in times of confusion and misunderstanding. 

I want to bring to the Church my own resources and gift of faith just like Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna (see Luke 8:1-3). I want to actively contribute to the Church fulfilling her role as beacon of truth in a dark world. And most of all I want to lay hold of eternal life, and not fall into the temptation of argument, rivalry, and arrogance. It’s a constant temptation to us all living in the Church today, but as Saint Paul shows us, a temptation that has been with the Church from the beginning.

Have you noticed situations where the temptation to give into arrogance, arguments, envy, or rivalry within the Church is especially acute for you? What virtue could you choose to practice in that situation instead?