A Reflection for the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Find today’s readings here.
Proclaim the word;
be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient;(2 Tm 4:1-8)
“Oooh! I have a good one!”
The sacrosanct Scripture reflection spreadsheet is circulated among staff members at America. Our associate editor, Molly Cahill, has posted the schedule for reflections, with each staff member being assigned a day’s readings and the draft’s due date. Staff members’ Google icons are quickly popping up on the top of the spreadsheet. Which reading have I been tasked with exegeting, reflecting and interpreting? Or, better yet, how can I tie a cartwheeling kid I saw on Ninth Avenue or a sixth-grade biology lesson into today’s readings?
It’s like Christmas morning every month, a surprise via Slack message and a chance to approach our sacred text with fresh eyes. Now, there is no one way to interpret Scripture. Our hundreds of reflections and columns on the Word attest to that fact. But sometimes an interpretation of the assigned Scripture does not immediately reveal itself, even if the reading is a self-proclaimed “good one.” The liturgical calendar does not bend to the creative spirit’s whimsy.
When I saw that the Second Epistle to Timothy fell into my lap one week before I was to run a half marathon, I could not believe my luck. I had not yet “competed well,” and “finished the race,” but throughout my training, I had “kept the faith.” The reflection was going to write itself, I thought. But as I began writing, I soon realized I was not reflecting on Paul’s last ministry instructions, the last command to Timothy before Paul was to die. Instead, I was discussing my newfound love of running, and it very quickly veered far from my thesis that “the glory of God is the human being fully alive” (to quote St. Iraneus) and into a diatribe about how running is a sneakily difficult sport (and that I’m very nervous for the race). But that was not the Scripture reflection I wanted to write.
Every day, our staff walks through glass doors etched with the commandment to “Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord.” Recently, when discussing that daily reminder, my colleague Delaney Coyne simply remarked, “This is our job here.” Beyond our editorial and managerial responsibilities, our jobs ask us to “proclaim the Word.” This looks like amplifying diverse voices on decisive issues in our church and our world. This looks like connecting with donors and subscribers, forming a community who believe in the mission of this magazine. This looks like finding God in all things, beyond our work online and in print, but in our interactions with the spiritual lives of others. And it looks like writing Scripture reflections—daily, since 2022—persistently proclaiming the Word, even when it feels inconvenient.
Our reflections have discussed the meanest thing Jesus ever said, fitness culture, the sanctity of legos, feminism and Genesis and comedy in Scripture. They run the gamut from witty and poignant to deeply vulnerable and raw. They persistently proclaim the word, and we are all made better for it.
But writing a Scripture reflection, and as many of America’s Scripture reflection writers can attest, bemoaning a looming deadline amid other editorial responsibilities when the schedule is sent around (sorry, Molly) is not the only way to reflect on the word of God made manifest in our lives. Each of our readers cultivates a community of proclaimers alongside us. We are made stronger through each reflection read, each email forwarded and each bit of heartwarming praise commented. We are made better when a Scripture reflection offers a new bit of wisdom to a reader, igniting their hearts and minds with the love of God. We are made more whole when we announce the word of God with our deeds.
“This is our job here.” Not just at America, but as believers. We proclaim consistently, together.
