“To what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance. We sang a dirge, but you did not weep'” (Lk 7:31-32).

Jesus was convicting those who held a narrow view of who was a true follower of God. He illustrated this by sharing the above example that there was no pleasing the listeners, for when the flute was played no one danced, when times of joy arose, there was no celebration, and when the funeral dirge was sung, they did not weep, they did not mourn. Jesus expanded the analogy to his present condition where there were those who did not accept the ascetical practices of fasting and the call to repentance from John the Baptist, nor did they accept the inclusive table fellowship of Jesus.

We have encountered those that are not pleased beyond their own narrow focus and who suffer from tunnel vision. Anything that hints at even a slight variation of change sends tremors of discontent. And if we are honest, we all have some resistance to change. But if we are to authentically live the Gospel, Blessed John Cardinal Newman’s quote is an apt barometer: “To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.”

The Church at her best is the balance of the rock foundation of our core beliefs which provides stability, assuredness, and identity, while at the same time being open to the life giving movement of the Holy Spirit. Each generation must make the Gospel relevant in our own time. We must be flexible and resist rigidity so that we are not molding the Church in our image, but being authentic to renewal, integrity, and embracing the Mystery of God’s movement such that we are molded, transformed, and conformed in his image and likeness of love, which is the willing the good of the other.

This means not being threatened by those who are different. The gift of Catholicism is the universal call and invitation of Jesus which is open to all of humanity. Embracing the gift of unity and diversity is messy, but this is what Jesus calls us to. Is this challenging? Yes. Hard? Yes. Impossible? On our own, and from our own egoistic perspective, yes. But with our heart and mind seeking the will and ordering of God, all things are possible!

Link for today’s Mass readings:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/092017.cfm

Photo: Our daughter, Christy, celebrating her move to California and trusting in the guidance of the Holy Spirit!