(Readings for Mass for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany can be found here.)
The way and the message of the cross, as St. Paul writes, is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks. Today, he could equally write it is a stumbling block to Christians and foolishness to everyone else.
Recent events and polarizations not just in the United States but elsewhere amply illustrate this. Christians, it seems, have lost their first love (or all their love), and many deride the Way as either stupid or insane or both. Same field, different players, same ball.
Today we read not only St. Paul's exhortation to follow Jesus' example and his contention that it is the weak, the simple, the foolish, that God exalts, but also the Prophet Malachi's contention that God doesn't care a whit about how often you show up for worship if you don't also do kindness, love justice, and walk humbly with God. To top it all off, we cap the readings with the Beatitudes, which Our Lord delivered at the Sermon on the Mount.
Lowliness of spirit, mercy, reconciliation, peacemaking, integrity, doing the right thing no matter what negative repercussions they can have for you. Putting the life and welfare of others ahead of our own.
We see precious little of that, even among Christians. "Look out for number one," we hear. "Good guys finish last," is another common thing we hear. We have been preaching against this from pulpits forever, and occasionally, we even see these messages of self-interest and prosperity issue from the pulpits themselves.
No, the way of the Cross does not fit with the values of our culture, even the values of "decent, God fearing" people. Yet those are God's values, and He honours those who follow them.
Perhaps it is time we focus on those who need our help rather than focus on ourselves. Perhaps then we can see real change. Perhaps then the Holy Spirit will empower us to move mountains rather than make them. Frankly, the way of the wisdom of the world has not had that great a track record, but when people have embraced the way of the Cross, then wonderful things are done. May it be so.