WE need to be ready to hear some hard
words from Christ.
Yes, they can jolt us. But they are meant to wake us up, we who always
have the tendency to get complacent, self-satisfied if not
self-righteous.
We need to remind ourselves that no matter how harsh these
words may sound, they are always meant for our own good. We have to be
quick to relate them always to the other teachings that talk about joy
and peace, our ultimate end, and thus get the whole picture.
One example: “Do you think that I have come to establish
peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” (Lk 12,51)
Or, “Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth. I came not to
send peace, but the sword.” (Mt 10,34)
Frightening as they may sound, we have to relate them to
his other words, like “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be
called children of God.” (Mt 5,9) Or, “Holy Father, keep them in your
name whom you have given me, that they may be one as we also are one.”
(Jn 17,11)
These latter teachings give the proper context in which
the former words have to be viewed. They tell us that both peace and
unity are a result of some effort. They just don’t come to us
automatically. They have to be fought for and kept under close
vigilance. They somehow imply that we need to make continuing
conversion and renewal.
More importantly, we need to realize very deeply that
peace and unity can only come from God. They are a grace, a gift from
God. They just cannot be a product of our own making alone. And so we
have to continually relate ourselves with God through our prayers,
sacrifices, recourse to the sacraments, ascetical struggles, study of
doctrine, etc.
Christ is always reminding us to be faithful and to
continue fulfilling his will as it unfolds itself in an unending
process of deepening. But it’s a deepening that follows the
consistency of God’s love, mercy and wisdom.
The surprises he seems to make do not nullify but would
rather purify and enrich the previous stages of our knowledge
regarding his will and his ways. They strike us as surprises because
of our limited condition. We should not therefore be overly concerned
about them. We should just accept them with humility, tranquility and
gratitude.
That is when we can get along with the mysterious ways of
God’s providence. We can remain awed as we discover more new things
even as retain the old ones. The things of God are always new and at
the same time also old.
We have to be wary of getting trapped at a certain point
of the way because of our human estimations of things that tempt us
always to feel so contented that we would not anymore like to move on
or to discover new things. Let’s be most careful with the tendency to
convert God’s graces and charisms into mere human categories.
These human categories can be provided by our own
sciences, philosophies, ideologies, politics, history, culture, social
trends, etc. They are always useful, but only as means. We should not
confuse them with our faith. Our faith transcends them while using
them.
We have to put our passions and convictions more on our
faith than on these human estimations. We have to be wary of the
tendency of these human estimations to dominate us as to so enclose us
in a certain system as to blind us to the impulses of faith through
the Spirit.
So we have to be very careful with our categorization of
people into conservative or liberal, for example, or into
traditionalist or progressive, rightist or leftist, pro-this or
pro-that, anti-this or anti-that. Our human prudence has to spring
from a living contact with God, not just from some grounding on
ideologies, philosophies, etc.
Since to distinguish between what is of true faith through
the Spirit and what is simply our human estimations can be very tricky
and confusing, we always have some need to be jolted and to be
surprised. Ironic as it may sound, we should not be surprised with
surprises. We need to expect them somehow.
In other words, our faith and sense of confidence in our
hold of absolute truths should be dynamic, not static, living and
growing, not inert. Being game with life and never leaving behind
humor, without abandoning due sobriety either, are to my mind what are
appropriate in playing the drama and game of life.
Yes, they can jolt us. But they are meant to wake us up, we who always
have the tendency to get complacent, self-satisfied if not
self-righteous.
We need to remind ourselves that no matter how harsh these
words may sound, they are always meant for our own good. We have to be
quick to relate them always to the other teachings that talk about joy
and peace, our ultimate end, and thus get the whole picture.
One example: “Do you think that I have come to establish
peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” (Lk 12,51)
Or, “Do not think that I came to send peace upon earth. I came not to
send peace, but the sword.” (Mt 10,34)
Frightening as they may sound, we have to relate them to
his other words, like “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be
called children of God.” (Mt 5,9) Or, “Holy Father, keep them in your
name whom you have given me, that they may be one as we also are one.”
(Jn 17,11)
These latter teachings give the proper context in which
the former words have to be viewed. They tell us that both peace and
unity are a result of some effort. They just don’t come to us
automatically. They have to be fought for and kept under close
vigilance. They somehow imply that we need to make continuing
conversion and renewal.
More importantly, we need to realize very deeply that
peace and unity can only come from God. They are a grace, a gift from
God. They just cannot be a product of our own making alone. And so we
have to continually relate ourselves with God through our prayers,
sacrifices, recourse to the sacraments, ascetical struggles, study of
doctrine, etc.
Christ is always reminding us to be faithful and to
continue fulfilling his will as it unfolds itself in an unending
process of deepening. But it’s a deepening that follows the
consistency of God’s love, mercy and wisdom.
The surprises he seems to make do not nullify but would
rather purify and enrich the previous stages of our knowledge
regarding his will and his ways. They strike us as surprises because
of our limited condition. We should not therefore be overly concerned
about them. We should just accept them with humility, tranquility and
gratitude.
That is when we can get along with the mysterious ways of
God’s providence. We can remain awed as we discover more new things
even as retain the old ones. The things of God are always new and at
the same time also old.
We have to be wary of getting trapped at a certain point
of the way because of our human estimations of things that tempt us
always to feel so contented that we would not anymore like to move on
or to discover new things. Let’s be most careful with the tendency to
convert God’s graces and charisms into mere human categories.
These human categories can be provided by our own
sciences, philosophies, ideologies, politics, history, culture, social
trends, etc. They are always useful, but only as means. We should not
confuse them with our faith. Our faith transcends them while using
them.
We have to put our passions and convictions more on our
faith than on these human estimations. We have to be wary of the
tendency of these human estimations to dominate us as to so enclose us
in a certain system as to blind us to the impulses of faith through
the Spirit.
So we have to be very careful with our categorization of
people into conservative or liberal, for example, or into
traditionalist or progressive, rightist or leftist, pro-this or
pro-that, anti-this or anti-that. Our human prudence has to spring
from a living contact with God, not just from some grounding on
ideologies, philosophies, etc.
Since to distinguish between what is of true faith through
the Spirit and what is simply our human estimations can be very tricky
and confusing, we always have some need to be jolted and to be
surprised. Ironic as it may sound, we should not be surprised with
surprises. We need to expect them somehow.
In other words, our faith and sense of confidence in our
hold of absolute truths should be dynamic, not static, living and
growing, not inert. Being game with life and never leaving behind
humor, without abandoning due sobriety either, are to my mind what are
appropriate in playing the drama and game of life.
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