Transparency Talk

"Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him" (Matt. 21:31-32).

A reflection from Father Tudgay for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

“Talk is cheap”, as the saying goes…  We live in a world where there is a lot of talk. Talking Heads. Small talk. Talk tv. Talk radio. Political talk. Culture crisis talk. Nonsense talk. Hurtful talk. Supportive talk. Nasty talk. Talk therapy. Trash talk. The examples go on and on… “There’s a lot of talk about…” the examples say. It can be draining.

The tradition of the Christian Faith includes the discipline of catechesis, that is, the transmission of the content of our faith from one to the other. This process is what we call sacred tradition, or the handing on of our faith from one generation to the next. Obviously, this action includes talking and writing and explaining and dialoging and debating and occasionally arguing, all of which is a form of talk. But it’s not nonsense talk. It’s talk centered around the action and mission of Jesus Christ. Our Second Reading from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Philippians captures the central action around which all Christian talk is centered: the action of Christ’s assumption of a human nature and being handed over to creation by the Father, his condemnation and subsequent handing over to death, his handing over of his will to the Father’s providence, the Resurrection, and the handing over of all things to the Church. What Christ “talks” about in his earthly mission, he fulfills at its culmination. There’s no cheap talk with Our Lord!

We are instructed that actions speak louder than words. The Christian Faith and the action of Jesus Christ and his Church illustrate this in a critical way. As disciples of Jesus Christ, simply talking about our faith without putting it into action makes us a bit hypocritical. I know that may sting a little, but it’s a helpful point of reflection from time to time. Our responsibility as disciples is to always reflect on our words and actions so that both are in sync with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Putting our love into action and putting God’s love for us into action ensures that the mission of Jesus Christ continues in our world through us.