Word of the Week

21th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cherishes: Thalpo (Gk.): meaning “cherish”, or “to warm, keep warm”. This term conveys a sense of cherishing with tender love, to foster with tender care.

"The Church...is called 'that Jerusalem which is above' and 'our mother', is described as the spotless spouse of the spotless lamb. It is she whom Christ 'loved and for whom he delivered himself up that he might sanctify her.' It is she whom he unites to himself by an unbreakable alliance, and whom he constantly 'nourishes and cherishes’” (LG, 6) (cf. CCC, 757).

The aforementioned Greek for cherish can be found twice in the New Testament, both of which are in Paul’s epistles. In Paul’s first use, he uses the image of a mother nursing her child to convey the great love he has for the people of Thessalonica (1 Thes.2:7). In his second use, he places the word at the heart of his teaching on the Christian household. In that teaching, he emphasizes the importance of man caring for and cherishing his wife just as he would his own body (Eph.5:28-29). The link between man’s flesh and his wife from the Ephesian passage evokes the rich Old Testament imagery of Eve being pulled from the flesh of Adam (cf. Gen.2:21-23), which in turn, strikes to the core of this 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time. This Sunday brings to conclusion a four-week long reflection into the mystery of Christ and the Eucharist as the starting and closing points to our faith. Just as the bride came from the side of the flesh of Man, so with Christ, who “fashions his bride, the church, by giving her the sacramental substance of his own flesh and blood in the Eucharist (CCC, 757, 1003). This is what makes the Church his own flesh” (Hahn and Minch, 44), and consequently, the reason why we are called to cherish and adore our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Cherish is a word that is often tied to a type of adoration towards things. Whether it be a house, job, car, or even a piece of jewelry, an imbalanced sense of adulation occurs when we fail to see a thing proportionate to its inherent value. All things have their value, but never trump the importance of the dignity of the human person. It is in fact, persons and relationships that we are called to cherish. The tension that arises in our contemporary age between things and persons takes place when we allow ourselves to succumb to materialism and allow things to keep us ‘warm’. In the end, what we cherish is a litmus test to our relationship with Christ as it reveals the manner in which we spend our time.

“But we can hold our spirits and our bodies so pure and high, we may cherish such thoughts and such ideals, and dream such dreams of lofty purpose, that we can determine and know what manner of men we will be, whenever and wherever the hour strikes and calls to noble action.”

--Joshua Chamberlain

Primary Texts Consulted

1. Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
2. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd Edition, 1997.
3. Hahn, Scott and Minch, Curtis. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The letters of St. Paul to the Galatians & Ephesians, RSV, 2nd ed. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2005.

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