IT IS OUR LIVES THAT SPEAK THE TRUTH

 

Every parent has countless stories about the things their kids have pulled off. But thank goodness for mistakes. Most often, these have become moments of serious learning. This is h ow most of us become good drivers. We have made a few wrong turns and we pay attention to what the driver instructor has taught us.

 

Our Christian life is a journey of failure, learning and being lifted up. We make mistakes. We take ownership of our selfish and sinful attitudes. We wrestle with and struggle with the power of the Holy Spirit to be converted to Gospel living.

 

The most dangerous attitude we could live in is to feel that we are living a good life, and we are in good standing with God. Feeling religious is its own trap. This is why the prophets of the Old Testament railed against all these people who said all the correct prayers but cheated the poor in the business dealings. 

 

The Church, organized to live the gospel, can also fall into the same trap. We refuse to come to grips with the way we live our life and they teachings of Gospel. One of the most glaring contradictions was the practice of slavery by rich Christians over native and black peoples. 

 

One of the best images of what tit means to be Christian is the twelve step programs of the recovering addicts.  They introduce themselves in terms of their struggles: “I am Joe/ Pete/Sam and I am an alcoholic.”  They are owning their woundedness. They are a community of struggle and their woundedness  become their strength towards healing.

 

Life in the Church calls us to be honest – beginning with our own lives. 

 

Come before God and one another to take ownership of how you find it difficult to live with people who are different from yourself: they are not the same skin color, they have a very different culture and they eat different foods. Difficulties do not indicate sinfulness. It is just being honest that difference can be uncomfortable.

 

Every human being is made in the very image of God. Our faith firmly roots us in this truth that there is equality of life, of importance and value in the life of everyone. Our religion challenges us to live up to this truth.

 

Having difficulties does not indicate sinful attitudes. It is when we use these downgrading attitudes to put people who are different from ourselves down. We have a long history to teach us how this degrading can be done. The sins of exclusion from our pas can become the moments that the Holy Spirit is lifting us up to a new way of living with our fellow human beings.

 

It is when we fail, when we are prejudiced and down-putting, that we can discover how our Christiaan faith can lift us up to value each and every human being as the very image of God. We can discover a new sense of equality in those who are different from ourselves.

 

Mistakes are not bad in themselves. They are moments, opportunities to  grow. As we struggle with our sinfulness, the Holy Spirit can be lifting us to new life, new love and joy in the  divine image that is the other person who is different from myself.

 

 

 

 

 

WHERE OUR FAITH LEADS US.

 

Born-Catholics often make the observation that the people who join the Church as adults have a much better grasp of the faith than us ‘born-types.’

 

Whenever an adult has to take a definite stand on any position, they will do so with conviction that often arises from a personal struggle. Should I become a Christian person or should I not? Most often, their position in their life’s journey demands a commitment.

 

The way of the Gospel, given to us by Jesus Christ, leads us into the heart and mind of God. Our faith leads us into the very life and outpouring of the Holy Trintiy. We share the very life and heart of God.

 

Now at the same time, Jesus was trying to get rid of a religion that did all the right things, followed all the rules of the religion game,  but did not seek a change of heart. The message that Jesus taught was to get rid of ‘doing’ religion rather than walking and breathing in the very heart of God. 

 

Today, if our Christian religion is lived authentically, we will see that the Gospel leads us to a deeper love for our fellow human being. This is why the closer we actually draw towards God, the closer we will draw to our fellow human being. People have observed that many of our women and men who are deeply into prayer and immersing themselves in the Gospel, are people who are very concerned about the well-being of the elderly, the homeless and the unemployed. The Gospel always leads us to embrace the poverty and the struggles of the neighbor. 

 

But it does not stop there. The Gospel leads us to see in the other, in the little one, the very face of Jesus Christ. We are being shaped to see that in the face of the poor, is the very face of Ghrist. This is why the final judgement after our death we will be confronted by the risen Christ, and what does he recognize in us? 

 

He will not say, ‘you did good’ but rather he will say, “I was hungry and you gave me food.:(Mt. 25, 35) Jesus identifies with the poor and the forgotten ones. Whatever good we do for others, we are very much doing good toward Jesus Christ.

 

This is why we need daily reminders that whatever good we do towards our neighbor, no matter how small, we are doing good to the Risen Jesus. From a heart shaped by the Gospel of Jesus, we are lead to greater love and service. 

 

Countless Christians before us have lived the teaching of Jesus out in very ordinary but in very radical ways. They have made it a daily practice to reach out to the neighbor.

 

Our Christiaan faith is not static. It moves us powerfully toward much greater love for  others. There is no room for selfish people when you live with Jesus.

BUILDING A SOCIETY WHERE WE TRUST ONE ANOTHER

 

We live in a time when you must be on your guard that you may be scammed, have your bank account cleaned out or have your individual private information used to illegally  to obtain a bank loan. We have all heard of the grandparents-scam where trusting grandparents were hustled out of thousands of dollars. .”

 

Many people share that “if I do not recognize the phone number I will not answer the phone

 

We are living in a time of distrust. 

 

We need to step back for a few moments and reflect on what trust actually is and how essential it is to living and functioning in this society.

 

We learn to trust another human being right from the moment of our birth. Our mother and father care for us. We can count on them to feed us, wash us and protect us from all harm. We learn early that there are dangers in life and we must avoid the dangers and do the good. We are praised for sharing with our two year old sister, with picking up our shoes and know where it is safe to ride our bike and where it is unsafe.

 

Our parents put us on the school bus because they trusted that the bus driver would get us to and from school safely. They dropped us off at the grandparents because they knew that we were always safe with grandma and grandpa.

 

What happens when trust breaks down? How is society coming apart when citizens cannot trust what their government officials are saying or businesses  try to sell us deficient products?

What happens when people in authority take advantage of others and criminally hurt the children and the elderly?

 

The media just loves any occasion to broadcast the failures of our police service, the medical profession, our teachers, the church and prison system. Do we ever hear that anything good has been done by honest, conscientious and upright people?

 

It is in this atmosphere that I am so thankful that our Christian faith so strongly underlines how we are to treat one another. Be as honest and truthful with your neighbor as you would want your neighbor to be honest and trustful with you. 

 

Our prayer ( and our strong desire for action) is that we practice  honesty in all our dealings with others. Practice that your word can always be counted on. 

 

This is also a creative moment to reflect on your own life and your own upbringing. Who were the people that were honest and trustworthy in your life? Who do you count on to always do the right thing?

 

A smile will come to your face when you remember the people who were ‘painfully honest.”

 

Thank the Holy Spirit for every moment that you are challenged to be honest and trustworthy. What a gift to your fellow human beings!

DOUBT IS PART OF THE JOURNEY OF FAITH

         

There are too many people in our churches who feel guilty when they are walking in doubt. They are convinced that to struggle and doubt makes them a bad believer. They live by unrealistic expectations that they should not doubt, be angry with God or just feel indifferent towards prayer at various times in their lives. 

 

The authentic life of faith is just like raising your children (all nineteen years that is). There are good days and then there are prolonged struggles with them. Most days you want to run out and hug them. There are some days when you would gladly trade them in on a more compatible and less stubborn kid!

 

The great teachers of our faith make it very clear that there will be times when we have serious struggles with our God.

 

Unfortunately, our Christian imagination has not given sufficient attention to the wrestling of Jacob and the stranger (i.e., God) who get in a wrestling match all night (Gen. 30, 10-22). Where in our church buildings do we find a painting of this episode? This deficit points to our hesitation to embrace the struggles and hesitations that life with God will entail.

 

We want to reclaim Jacob and the wrestling match as a model for our life of faith. Wrestling is always difficult with sweating, bone crushing and there is always a winner. One man will emerge triumphant over the other. It is never pleasant and it certainly does not smell nice!

 

As we live our lives with God we may reach the point in old age where we seriously question the good God. How can I be so lonely with all my family and friends gone already. I am in this nursing home and can barely feed myself. I need help to go to the bathroom. Where is the good God in all this suffering?

 

Or we may have an eighteen year old nephew who accidently over dosed at a party. This is my sister’s only child! How could she lose such a promising young man in so foolish an accident?

Where is the good God in all our tears? What could we ever have done to deserve this terrible blow to our lives and our future?

 

This is where we need to live the story of the apostle Thomas and his reluctance to believe that Jesus had been raised from the dead (Jn. 20, 24-29) In his doubt and hesitation he laid down conditions for him to accept the new reality that Jesus was risen from the dead: “Unless I touch.”

 

When we hear this story each Easter we are hearing our own story. Thomas is each one of us. We struggle to make the leap of faith. We struggle to accept Jesus on his very word. We might go through long seasons of hesitation and at times outright unbelief, but this is our journey of faith.

 

As a Church of walking and wrestling believers, we are with Thomas, pleading, praying, “Lord, help my unbelief!”