In today’s gospel, we continue to reflect on Jesus’ Last Supper discourse. He makes an analogy between the apostles’ pain at seeing him depart and a woman who is about to give birth to a child.
“When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world.”
What rejoicing there is at the birth of a child. Even those immediately involved with assisting the mother, after experiencing it hundreds of times, still rejoice at a newborn and their efforts and the mother’s pain bears fruit in which they can rejoice. The apostles will now be those assisting this newness of life which shall be born into the world through the Risen Lord’s graces and mercy, almost like the nurses and doctors who see to it that the newborn be nurtured and protected as it enters into the world. Hearts will turn from stone to flesh. Infants, young people, men and women from all nations and creeds will be born anew through the sanctifying waters of baptism. The joy after the pain, will come.
Jesus promised that when he sees them again: “…your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”
Despite the trials and persecution we inevitably must face, in remaining solid and steadfast in our faith, commitment and vows, clinging to the Lord, our hearts will be filled with that joy that this world can neither give us nor take away from us. Again, this is what Saint Francis called, “perfect joy”.. that which results from undergoing some kind of suffering for our Lord’s sake and that of his righteousness.
The apostles all experienced this and even Saint Paul who was as if “abnormally born late” (1 Corinthians 15:8) in his own words… meaning, that he became an apostle well after the others and also saw Jesus in his Risen form after the other apostles did. Nevertheless, he underwent great suffering along with them in preaching the word of truth to the nations.
In today’s first reading we see that Paul is still in Corinth. His presence there is vital and through him the Lord is leaving wonderful fruit to aid the growth of the believers and converts in that region. The Lord even speaks to him in a vision and tells Paul about this wonderful progress and to not be afraid.
Paul stays in the city for a year and a half preaching the word of God and the goodness of our Lord and his marvelous redemptive love for his people but as often happened the Jews who resisted were up in arms and took Paul before the pro-consul of Achaia, who at the time was Gallio. Achaia was the southern province of Greece in which Corinth was situated so this man, Gallio was in charge of overseeing a pretty vast territory. He’d have to be a man of stature. In fact from what we know he was the brother of the famous Roman philosopher, Seneca who was a tutor of the Emperor Nero.
The New International Version Bible notes: “Gallio was admired as a man of exceptional fairness and calmness. From an inscription found at Delphi, it is known that Gallio was proconsul of Achaia in AD 51-52. This information enables us to date Paul’s visit to Corinth on his second journey as well as his writing of the Thessalonian letters.”
Gallio, after listening to the Jews who wished to falsely accuse Paul, dismisses all charge s as he felt they were arguing about religious interpretations that he had no competence or interest in, and right there and then, the infuriated accusers seized Sostenes, yet another synagogue ruler who had converted, and began beating him up. Paul refers to him in the opening line of his first letter to the Corinthians as “our brother Sosthenes”.
After this heated encounter with his opposition and when the time was right, Paul decides to head back to Antioch in Syria. It is at this point in the passage we are reflecting on today that Paul is said to have shaven his head in compliance with a vow.
Finally, before embarking at the port of Cenchreae, and after saying his farewells to the people, Paul shaves his head because of a vow he had taken. Saint Luke doesn't mention what kind of vow, but it is assumed to be a Nazarite vow because that is the only vow that involves the shaving of the head. Traditionally the head is shaved at the start of the vow and then again at the end of the vow. The hair that grew during the vow was then offered as a peace offering to God. It is only at the end of the vow that hair is cut at the tabernacle and later at the temple.
We have the beautiful description in the Book of Numbers: "Now this is the law of the Nazirite when the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall bring the offering to the doorway of the tent of meeting. ... The Nazirite shall then shave his dedicated head of hair at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and take the dedicated hair of his head and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings" Numbers 6:13,18. The hair symbolized a vow, a sacrifice, to abstain from impure things, from wine and from sexual relations. The end of the vow did not mean an end of those disciplines but it was a period in which one would intensify his or her efforts to remain pure.
This is a perfect reminder to think on our own vows. We all make them, and most of us break them. We are like Saint Peter who promises to never part from our Lord in one breath, and denies him three times in another. Yet the Lord prayed for Peter and told him that once he was back, he in turn would strengthen his brethren. In other words, our Lord extends mercy to those who break their vows so that they are able to start anew. Whether it’s baptismal, marital or religious vows… our Lord always encourages us to get back on our feet, and never give up.
We just need to keep in mind that when vows are broken, someone is going to get hurt. When we break our baptismal vows, we break the Lord’s heart, and it caused him a horrific passion and death on the cross to bring us back to him. He loved his unfaithful bride, the Church, as in the Old Testament, through Hosea, he said he would always love his people Israel as a husband loves his bride, even when Israel had exchanged him with other gods. Hosea had an unfaithful wife whom God asked him to accept back, for she was a symbol of the infidelity of Israel and Hosea was to be a symbol of God’s mercy. That brings us to marriage. When we break a marital vow, we devastate our spouse. The pain is unimaginable. I have known many spouses however who continue to forgive, be patient, and love their spouse even though they were hurt by them in a very deep way. It is these
courageous people, these incredible, faith-filled people that ascend the heights of true holiness. Just look at the likes of Blessed Elizabeth Mora, Saint Fabiola, and Saint Rita, the Patroness for Difficult Marriages! All of them endured years of an abusive marriage to men who found it very difficult to change their ways. In the case of Blessed Elizabeth, her husband would repent only after her death when she was just 51 years of age. He would then become a Franciscan friar, but it was her authenticity that eventually changed his heart.
So vows are special, but they’re a serious matter, and God takes them seriously. Let us ask Saint Paul, and all those who made a concerted effort to keep their word before God and the Church to pray for all of us so that we can do likewise. Our Lady, sorrowful at the cross, Queen of broken hearts, pray for us and for the whole world.
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