When I was a young man, just beginning my career in the business world, I recall one of my first managers espousing a management technique called “Management By Walking Around.” (As I recall, my friends and I made fun of it vociferously – “what?!?!? Getting paid for just walking around and chatting with folks?!?!? How can I get that job?!!!!”). The idea was that, by getting out from behind one’s desk and walking around, observing, and talking, a manager can be more effective at understanding the needs of his employees and the dynamics going on in the office.
The ancient Greek philosophers used this approach, too – they were wandering, itinerant lecturers. (After all, after you’ve heard Aristotle talk about syllogisms ten or twenty times, you get bored, and he has to find a new audience.) So, they would “walk around.” Some folks say that this means that they would travel from place to place, and other folks say merely that Aristotle and his followers liked to stroll about as they lectured. Either way, the word for “walk around” in Greek is peripateo, and so the Aristotelian school was called the ‘Peripatos’ and the philosophers themselves were called the ‘peripatetics’.
We see this word in today’s second reading: St Paul tells the Christians in Ephesus that they “must no longer live as the unbelievers live”. The word St Paul uses for ‘live’ is – you guessed it! – peripateo. The idea is this: the way we present ourselves to others, as we ‘walk around’ in our daily lives, presents a vibrant witness to those around us. It’s either the kind of witness that says “I believe in Jesus and His teachings” or one that says “meh… my faith life is something that I do for one hour on Sundays, but it’s not important enough to me to affect how I walk through my life.”
Over the next few weeks, in our second readings, St Paul will continue to make the case that we, as Catholic Christians, should “walk the walk” and not just “talk the talk.” If we belong to Christ – and we do, through our baptism and our hope for eternal life! – then it’s important that our words and actions reflect that belief and identity in Christ. “Put on your new self!”, St Paul reminds us. “Put on your baptismal identity in Christ!” Only by “walking the walk” of Christianity can we witness to the reality of Christ in our lives.
“Management By Walking Around”? Hmm… the jury is still out on that business technique. “Christianity By Walking Around”, though? Ohh… that’s definitely what Christ calls us to do, every day!
Please continue to support both our school and our parish through your prayers and generosity! Christ the Divine Shepherd, have mercy on us! St Bartholomew, St Bernadette, St Gerard Majella, St John de Brebeuf and companions (the North American martyrs), St Michael, and St Susanna, pray for us!
Blessings,
Fr Larry
