This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
Starting a project over from from scratch is a pain.
Especially when you’ve invested significant time, even years, of your life into the project.
But sometimes, we start over because our investigations lead us to an epiphany that we can take the whole goal of the project to an incomparably higher level.
Lockheed Martin is actively working on a safe, compact Cold Fusion technology that will make nearly infinite clean energy portable. Imagine working your whole life on introducing a technology that makes fossil fuel emissions cleaner, and then you discover that this Cold Fusion technology is not only feasible but just three years from release (note: this technology is not this close in reality). Lockheed Martin recruits you, telling you that your engineering skills are just what they need as their project lead to finish the project. Do you refuse? On the contrary, as you accept the offer, are you excited? A little sad about wasted years of your life? Maybe some of both?
St. Paul went through something like this. He was immensely gratified by the heights of Jewish practice that he had reached. But then he was surprised by something a whole level better: The grace of the Messiah, of Jesus Christ. And he says, “But whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ. More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
The story is even more dramatic than this, because in discovering and accepting Christ, Paul has deep regrets: He has contributed to the persecution and death of Christians.
Rather than inclining him away from his newfound treasure due to shame, however, this circumstance attached Paul’s heart even more thoroughly to Jesus Christ. Today’s Gospel passage tells us why: At the conclusion of the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin, Jesus says, “In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
The unexpected new paradigm of Jesus turns Paul’s understanding of righteousness completely on its head. He learns that Jesus is most proud of him and excited about him because he is a sinner who has repented, not in spite of that fact.
The Jesus revolution is like the Copernican revolution in the Renaissance, when Europeans discovered that the earth revolved around the sun, not vice-versa–Paul discovered that true religion revolves around the action of God in Christ, not around the action of man to uphold the Law.
The Jesus revolution that Paul experienced never really ends. It is always new for us, because we never become fully accustomed to the fact that in our religion, it is He who does all the heavy lifting, and to enjoy his endless bounty, all we need to do is give our authentic and practical “yes” to Him every day.
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Think of the burdens of responsibility, and the corresponding worries, that most weigh you down. Dialogue with Jesus about them, and introduce them in prayer into the Jesus revolution: The realization that He is the protagonist of these problems’ solution, not you.
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