Word of the Week

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Futility: Mataiotes (Gk.): meaning “what is devoid of truth and appropriateness”, “perverseness, depravity”, or “frailty, want of vigor”

The essence of futility is man placing absolute trust in man. Counter to faith, which is to entrust yourself to God with all your mind, soul, body, and strength (CCC 150), futility is to allow sin to determine your fundamental worldview. The CCC charges us to try to understand sin for what it is: “…one must first recognize the profound relation of man to God, for only in this relationship is the evil of sin unmasked in its true identity as humanity's rejection of God and opposition to him, even as it continues to weigh heavy on human life and history” (CCC 386). Furthermore, Christ ransoms us from our futile way of thinking in the saving power of his paschal mystery (CCC, 602, 622).

The aforementioned Greek can be found 3 times in the New Testament. Initially, Paul in his letter to Rome speaks to creation being subject to futility (Rom.8:20). Under the curse of Adam, God’s creation of the material world waits for the renewal of the world through Christ, the new Adam (Rom.5:14) and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Hahn and Minch, 28). This gift of the Holy Spirit is precisely what makes man new in Christ as he now shares in the inexhaustible gratuity of the inner-life of God. This participation in God includes cooperation in grace that transforms the human person and at the same time advances the world in its created beauty. Consequently, the new man in Christ must put away the folly of vanity and darkness that comes from futile thought (2 Pet.2:18), and put on Christ, the image of righteousness and holiness (cf. Eph.4:17-24).

Similar to two weeks ago, this Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time affords us the opportunity to reflect upon the tie between the lusts of the flesh and the depravity of growth in the new man. In particular, man’s inclination to sin leading to unhealthy relationships. So often, we are guarding the exterior man and giving no attention to the inner man. When this happens, the interior attitude of the soul deteriorates and the external attitude of the flesh creates a false world that he spends a lifetime protecting. We must transform our way of thinking from being world first and everything else second to God first and everything else second. This becomes the linchpin to divesting ourselves from the futile lifestyle of the world to vesting ourselves with a fruitful lifestyle in Christ. Let us journey inward discovering the Christ anew!

“Those who serve the truth in love together with Christ contribute to the true progress of the world. Yes, here it is quite clear that Paul is acquainted with the idea of progress. Christ his life, his suffering and his rising was the great leap ahead in the progress of humanity, of the world. Now, however, the universe must grow in accordance with him. Where the presence of Christ increases, therein lies the true progress of the world. There, mankind becomes new and thus the world is made new.”

--Pope Benedict XVI

Primary Texts Consulted

Catholic Bible. Suggested trans. Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2 nd Edition, 1997.
Hahn, Scott and Minch , Curtis. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans, RSV 2nd ed. San Francisco : Ignatius Press, 2003.

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