Oklahomily Oct 19 2005

By David Jones

It isn�t true that �you only hurt the ones you love.� As human beings we have the unfortunate capacity to hurt anyone, friend or foe, at any given moment. Such is the fallen nature that we inherited, and it is that nature as Christians we strive to overcome through the graces given to us by Jesus through the sacraments of the Church. Yet it is true that when we inflict pain, hurt and humiliation upon others, more often than not they are inflicted against the ones we care for most: our friends, our family, and our co-workers. The people with whom we identify.

In today�s readings (Tuesday, October 18) there is sadness in the words of Saint Paul to Timothy when he says: �Demas, enamored of the present world, deserted me and went to Thessalonica �� (2Timothy 4:10). There are few things more discouraging than friends and co-workers who turn against you, or leave you alone with the work which you started together. In this case Demas, of whom we know very little, has turned from his new love, Jesus Christ, and his friend, Paul, and is pursuing more earthly interests.

The phrase �enamored of the present world� speaks volumes.

A couple of sentences later, Paul raises the red flag for Timothy about a coppersmith named Alexander, who �did me a great deal of harm.� It's possible that there was physical harm involved, but perhaps the harm was even greater than that. Paul said that Alexander publicly obstructed his preaching. A worst-case scenario is that Alexander, perhaps an old friend from Paul's early tent-making days, pretended to convert to Christianity and then betrayed him, either to Jewish worshippers in Greece, or to Roman authorities, or through sinful actions.

Paul warns Timothy: �You, too, be on guard against him.� Was Paul being judgmental? Perhaps, but it was a judgment of practicality based upon sad personal experience. Besides that, Paul did not warn Timothy in order to take revenge upon Alexander, for he said: "the Lord will repay him according to his deeds."

The scriptures today, as so often happens, directly target the heart of some of the secular news today as regards the example of practicing faith among those who teach or attend Catholic schools.

This morning we read of the dismissal of a drama teacher from Loretta High School in Sacramento, California, after she was photographed escorting women into a local Planned Parenthood abortion clinic. Someone sent a copy of a picture to the local bishop, who ordered her termination. The report, by a local Fox TV news affiliate, makes it fairly obvious that Planned Parenthood contacted the station.

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