Come Away By Yourselves

Elijah asks a starving widow to share her very last provisions with him.  Trusting in God's promise, her meager resources last them through an entire year.  Our Lord asks us for a similar trusting generosity in times of fatigue and discouragement.  The Mass makes present Christ as true spiritual food, enriching enough for our earthly pilgrimage and a gateway to heaven.  It also makes present Christ's redemptive sacrifice, powerful enough to overcome all evil and sin.  To follow Christ, we need to avoid pharisaical self-righteousness.  This is the temptation to trust in ourselves, to make ourselves good, while avoiding the blessed uncertainty and the messy humility of the "way of the grain."  

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The Feast of All Saints reminds us of our ultimate destiny in heaven.  The call to holiness is a call to imitate Christ by letting God into our lives just as they are right now.   The lives of the saints remind us that the saints weren't superhuman.  All of the saints had "issues" just like us.  No matter what state or situation we find ourselves in, we can take the next step in sanctity by trusting and loving God a little bit more.  

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The Christian's call to holiness is a mysterious reality.  How can we be holy when holiness is exclusive to God and underlines his transcendent otherness?  How can we be perfect who are obviously sinful and weak?  Only by possessing and being possessed by Christ is holiness possible for us.  Sanctity is to have him live in us through the sacraments, our prayer life, and our gradual imitation of his life and dispositions.  

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The ups and downs of St. Peter are an example of starting over after coming up short.  To begin again after some failure is not just to keep trying, but to learn humility and a greater reliance on God.  Without our stumbles and falls we would never learn how much we need God's mercy and healing power.

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Originally published 9/28/2020

The three Archangels teach us important truths about God.  They reveal to us His transcendence, His power, and His salvific action.  

The Christian life entails a struggle.   Growing in virtue and overcoming vice requires serious effort.  This struggle for holiness, however, may seem overwhelming to the weak and  self-empowering to the proud.   Realizing that God's aid is essential for all spiritual growth helps to overcome these two mistakes.   Our spiritual combat must be carried out bravely and freely but also with full confidence in God.   

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Jesus's love is a burning, fervent love.   God himself is described as a 'burning fire' in the Letter to the Hebrews.  As disciples, we too ought to be men and women who are "on fire": apostolic, energetic, engaged, and up for sacrifices.   This entails overcoming lukewarmness, a spiritual illness that makes us allergic to Christian fervor and zeal.

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Jesus' apparent failure on the Cross is in reality a great victory.  His suffering was necessary for his glorification and for our salvation.  As Christians, our suffering is similarly necessary.  It is a means of purification, sanctification, and co-redemption.   Living through trials lovingly and prayerfully can teach us tremendous lessons about God and ourselves.  Like Christ, the trusting acceptance of our crosses becomes a great victory over sin and selfishness. 

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Our Faith gives us a living relationship with Jesus Christ and his Father God.  We are truly children of God in Christ.  This realization should fill us with confidence and trust.  God, who is all powerful and all knowing, is our loving Father.  He loves us with the same love with which he loves his divine Son. 

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The Bible often encourages us to a silent, receptive stance before God's reality and goodness.  This kind of prayer takes recollection or composure of heart, which in turn requires some trust in God.  Our distaste for quiet prayer can be rooted in an unwillingness to cede control or a fear of the changes it might provoke in us.  Jesus's advice to the busy Martha is pertinent for all times: "Mary has chosen the better part."  Although our lives are rightly busy,  we should also play the role of Mary--quietly listening to Jesus--and we can do this by learning how to pray in silence. 

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