Enduring Trials

 "Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you." Jas 1:22

James warns his readers that the Gospel life is difficult and will be full of trials. More important, he cautions everyone who yearns to live the Gospel fully not to overact but to respond by listening more intently, speaking less and avoiding anger, none of which is easy, but all of which is made possible by Jesus.

It is important to remember how challenged the first Christians were, especially after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Broken by the loss of the symbol that meant so much to them, the Jewish community insisted that those who followed the "Way" of the prophet Jesus let go of their faith if they wanted to be included among faithful Jews. This trial broke many Christians, but more stayed, accepted their unclean state as Jews and left Jerusalem to announce the message of Jesus all over the known world.

Trials like those faced by the first Christians may not come to us, but the challenge of living in a society so obsessed with material success, wealth and independence are formidable. Believers must try to live a counter cultural life committed to the common good and focused on strengthening the body of Christ when most in our society choose personal triumphs over building God's Kingdom.

Today, pray for anyone you know undergoing a difficult trial.

What or who has helped you endure the challenges to your faith?

God's Wisdom and Power

 "Consider your own calling, brothers and sisters. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful... God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God." 1Cor 1:26-28

It can be difficult to acknowledge and honor God if we were born to privilege, like most of us from the so called Developed World. We take clean water, adequate food, housing and health care for granted. It is only when these gifts are not in place that we realize how fortunate we are and learn not to complain too loudly about our poorly functioning systems but to pray in gratitude for all we do have.

It is important to admit each day how dependent on God we are. Some days this is easy. Because we know that God is the source of all life, and the one without whom we cannot live, we offer a simple prayer to begin our day and let God take us where we need to be. At other times, for St Paul and all of us, it is more difficult. We wrestle with God trying to understand what God wants, but no matter how we feel, allowing God to be with us in the good as well as the painful moments is the key to an authentic Christian life.

Today, humbly thank God for all that is.

How has God led you through the dark and murky waters of life?

The Foolishness of God

  "For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." 1 Cor 1:25

St. Paul knows what it means to write to the churches he helped found in a manner that focuses on them and not on him. He thanks God for them, for their faith, their faithfulness and the good works they do on behalf of the gospel.

What a powerful lesson there is for us. When we learn to begin each day with gratitude and hold our thanks before us like a light, we provide hope for those living in darkness and are reminded that a life of faith is simple. We need always to walk in the light of Christ who will show us the path to hope and thanksgiving because, as Paul further reminds us, "The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength."

Paul learned that his weakness, which often haunted him, was a gift which God could use to teach and form new disciples. When we accept this basic truth, our own faith lives become both easier and more intelligible. God will and does use our weaknesses to help others trust and let go into his hands.

Today, thank God for the gift of faith.

Have you experienced your weakness as a gift?

The Passion of St John the Baptist

 "He went off and beheaded John in the prison." Mk 6:27

Readers of John's gospel cannot help but wonder whether John the Baptist understood fully the import of his words about decreasing so the Christ could increase. Did he know he would die for the sake of the gospel? Surely he had enough time in prison to know that his prospects for a full life with Christ were small, and the evangelists remind us that it was John the Baptist's death that pushed Jesus to begin his public ministry.

When we are young and distant from the reality of our own death, it can be easy to make promises the depth of which we cannot really appreciate, but when we grow older, we know. If we are going to live the gospel with integrity there will be a price. The Good News might be good but it is not easy.
So many of us, sounding other centered, tell everyone that we are willing to endure whatever a gospel life brings, but we do not want to be a burden to others. How shallow these words can be upon reflection.  Allowing others to care for us as we would for them is essential to a fully human and gospel life. Not taking that care for granted is also important. Life must be accepted no matter what it brings.

Today, ask for the grace of accepting whatever God asks.

How do you explain the violence that emerges in the Gospel?

St Augustine

 "You have searched me and you know me, Lord." (Ps 139)

Augustine of Hippo wrestled with God for years. Resistant to anything or anyone who couldn't help him understand life as he experienced it, his life turned around when he met St Ambrose in Milan. A seminal thinker and writer, Ambrose got Augustine's attention through kindness and helped open his mind and heart to the Gospel by his brilliant preaching, but it was the voice of a child telling him to "take and read" that moved Augustine to reflect upon the thirteenth chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans. Hearing Paul tell his readers that the night was over and it was time to live decently moved Augustine towards baptism and an entirely new life and lifestyle.

Writing about love, Augustine asks: "What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like."(Augustine) For Augustine, love is a verb not a noun. It is something that we must act upon and share. More important, it is not always something we feel but something we decide to live and involves all the senses. We must love what we see and hear and walk towards those most in need.

Today, live your faith by keeping your eyes and ears open to all.

What keeps you from acting upon the Gospel everyday?

St Monica

  "There was indeed one thing for which I wished to tarry a little in this life, and that was that I might see you a Catholic Christian before I died. My God has exceeded this abundantly." (St Monica in the Confessions IX, 10)

St Monica taught her son, St Augustine, many lessons. Steadfastness and fidelity to the Gospel, expressed by her willingness to accept him even when he was wandering from his faith, tolerance of her mother in law who regularly rejected her because of her piety, but nothing was more important than her reliance on prayer especially when praying for her son's conversion.

Following Augustine everywhere he went, even when he tried to avoid her, Monica finds herself in Milan where the Milanese did not fast on Saturday. Confused, Monica asks St Ambrose for advice. When Ambrose tells her to follow local custom wherever she was, Monica took his advice believing that her willingness to listen and change would prove to Augustine that his mother's prayer for his conversion was pure. If she wanted Augustine to change, so must she.

When Monica was nearing death, she insisted that no one worry about her or attempt to bring her body back to Africa for burial. “Lay this body anywhere, let not the care for it trouble you at all. This only I ask, that you will remember me at the Lord's altar, wherever you be.” (Confessions IX, 11) Because St Monica's prayers had been answered with Augustine's full embrace of his Catholic faith, she lived the rest of her life in gratitude, a lesson all of us would do well to learn.

Today, pray for someone's conversion.

Whose prayer and desire for you has most moved you to listen and change?

Self Examination

   “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves." Mt 23:15

It must have been shocking and upsetting for the Pharisees and scribes to hear Jesus assert that only that which comes from within defiles a person. In fact, it is difficult for most of us to hear the great challenge of Jesus to put aside our desire to control ourselves and others with a rigid interpretation of the law. 

Jesus insists that salvation is not about discipline alone, but about asking God to cleanse our hearts of jealousy, resentment and suspicion of others. St Jerome says it well, "I bid you not to tear your garments but rather to rend your hearts which are laden with sin. Like wine skins, unless they have been cut open, they will burst of their own accord."(St Jerome on Joel)

Today, don't be afraid of an honest self examination.

How do you resist an unhealthy dependence on the law as a substitute for gospel living?