9/3/2013 – St Gregory the Greg – Tuesday of 22nd week in Ordinary time – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, 9-11

     The image of light shining in the darkness of the world is a major theme in today’s reading from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians.  We take light for granted in our world.  Night comes to us in the modern world, but everything is all lit up.  But in the ancient world, when expensive oil lamps were the main way of bringing light into the night, the darkness of night would come and envelope everything with there being very little to light it up.   I remember reading by candlelight in some of the places I have lived in Africa and in South America. It is hard getting used to that reality when we are so used to electricity.  Christ’s judgment and the end times are not something that will come like a thief suddenly in the middle of the night, Paul tells us.  The light of Christ is preparing us for that day.  It prepares us like nothing us can.   And we are to help each other on our journey, to encourage and enlighten each other, until that day comes.

     We think of Rome as this mighty empire, but by the 6^th century, Rome had been invaded by many different groups such as the Visigoths and the Vandals in the years leading up to the reign of the pope we celebrate as the saint of the day – Pope Gregory the Great.   Gregory united Christendom in the midst of Rome’s political downfall, and his contributions to theology, the liturgy of the mass, and the office of readings that monks and priests pray today.  Having been a monk himself and a Benedictine abbot after having served as the magistrate for the city of Rome, Gregory’s reforms have prompted many historians to see him as the Father of the Roman liturgy that we celebrate today.  Gregory had this to say: “The only true riches are those that make us rich in virtue.”  This quote is so radical compared to how our world sees things.  May this help us to be a light to the world.  May this help encourage us, strengthen us, and edify us.