Tag: <span>cross</span>

August 30, 2020August 14, 2020

No Coasting

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

If only there were some middle ground.

Middle ground between the insipid rot of sin, and the insanity of the Cross.

But there is not. Many would like to rail against God for this; but in the end, man’s rebellion against God is the source of this uncomfortable dichotomy–a rebellion which we habitually take so lightly and so casually, that we fall into the absurd temptation of blaming God for its terrible consequences.

It would be so nice if we could just live a comfortable, bourgeois, care-free existence here on earth, paying God routine worship as part of our life of coasting along, and then enjoy the blessings of eternal life upon our deaths.

But this middle ground simply does not exist; it is a phantasm, a mirage. In the second reading, St. Paul tells us to “offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.” For Jeremiah in the first reading, the mission God gives him is “like fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding it in, I cannot endure it.”

But it is in today’s gospel that Jesus gives the definitive answer to Peter, who urges Him to stop talking about the Cross and to adopt a “normal” life: “Get behind me Satan!…Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it.”

It would be wrong to interpret Jesus’ words to mean that every moment of a Christian’s life on earth is pure agony. But Jesus does call us to renounce the “normal,” default path of constant worldly comfort-seeking and glory-seeking, and make of our entire life, moment by moment, a gift for the happiness and welfare of others, both eternal and temporal.

And the conversion of our lives into a constant gift turns our life from something “normal,” from the default human path, into a continuous uphill walk to Calvary; a constant upstream paddle. There is not downhill roll, no downstream coasting, for a Christian. As St. Paul says in the second reading:

“Do not conform yourselves to this age
but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and pleasing and perfect.”

But if indeed that comfortable middle ground of a “good, normal life” does not exist as an option for a Christian, if we are called to renounce coasting now and for all time, the result for our lives is far from a tragedy. “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” The happiness we find in the all-in choice for Christ and His path brings with it an utterly unexpected happiness and fulfillment, utterly disproportionate to the relatively small sacrifice we make in making a gift of our lives. We are raised far beyond the capacities of our limited nature, to participate in the very nature and overabundant joy of God–even here on earth. And in eternity: “What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him.”

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Examine your life in the light of today’s readings, in the light of Christ’s radical invitation away from coasting and toward a complete gift of self, carrying your cross and following Him. Are you ready to give up the fake “middle road,” which in the end is merely a gentle downward spiral into selfishness and sin? Are you ready to jump radically into His challenge, with reckless trust in Him for your happiness–are you ready to follow Jesus Christ? Tell Him today, once and for all, that you are ready to give Him your whole heart.

Follow the Author on Twitter:
Follow @mvhaywilliams

August 29, 2020August 13, 2020

A Life “Wasted”

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

What a tragedy, the final days of St. John the Baptist. The life of the last and, if we are to take Christ’s words literally, the greatest prophet (cf. Mt. 11:11), was tragically and needlessly cut short on the ridiculous whim of a man utterly enslaved to his vacillating and nonsensical passions of lust, fear, and vanity.

How much John could have done to bring the nation of Israel to its true Lord, Savior, Messiah, Jesus Christ, if Herod had been even a slightly less absurd little man, and had pointed with honesty to John’s wisdom as a signpost for his nation.

Or at least, John’s death could have been itself more glorious and significant if Herod had opposed him publicly for his difficult stances, if John had been able to give greater testimony to the truth under persecution from a worthier opponent.

But no, a sniveling king puts him to death secretly in prison to please a dancing girl at one of his parties.

And yet, this is the wisdom of the Gospel, this is glory and power of the chosen of God of whom St. Paul speaks in the first reading, and whom today’s psalm sings as blessed.

It is time for us Christians to stop dreaming of Palm Sunday, and to embrace the glorious ignominy of the cross, where our true power lies. In our comfortable world of today, we must constantly remind ourselves that our joy and happiness do not lie here. Even if we are not imprisoned or suffering agony, we can live this wisdom by sacrificing ourselves for others in the state to which Jesus Christ has called us today, whether it is eminent or mundane, stimulating or tiresome, apparently important or apparently trivial. We can give our life as He did, as John did, today, and it is by this gift of self that we add actual grace, through the power of Christ’s own sacrifice, to the economy of salvation.

It is counter-intuitive. It makes no sense. And yet, it does; it is foolishness to the world, and yet it is the wisdom of God, who has chosen the foolish of the world to shame the wise.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Tell Jesus that you cannot adopt His mindset, His wisdom, on your own. Beg Him for the gift of the Holy Spirit that is the gift of wisdom, His wisdom. Ask Him to see how your life, today, can be glorious and fruitful in the light of that wisdom. And trust Him to make it so, even in the midst of your weakness.

Follow the Author on Twitter:
Follow @mvhaywilliams

August 28, 2020August 13, 2020

Wisdom and Folly

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

Today’s readings, in a sense, are all about the radical difference between the view of things from the perspective of eternity, vs. the view of them from the perspective of earthly time.

Both the first reading from St. Paul, which is one of those great, moving, passionate Pauline declarations, and the gospel from today juxtapose foolishness and wisdom: The paradoxical foolishness of the earthly and temporal view, and the deep wisdom of the eternal view.

We can share St. Paul’s passion. Consider the time we are living in. The world is obsessed with “clanging cymbals,” “noisy gongs” (cf. 1 Cor. 13). People are running to and fro in fear of this and that, condemning on social media those whose views on rapidly passing realities is not their own, with a bitterness that implies that the definitive welfare of humankind depends on unanimity on these matters.

Noise, clamor, fear, angst, hand-wringing–these are the fruits of the wisdom of the world, which St. Paul describes in the first reading. For it is the wisdom of the world that seeks an earthly utopia, achieved through power and domination. And because earthly utopia, such a tempting objective, is perennially elusive, its advocates remain perennially bitter.

The crucifixion of Christ could not appear more foolish against the backdrop of this earth-centric view. It is the opposite of all that is needed to build the earthly utopia: Weakness, powerlessness, rejection, failure. And how Paul loves it, for all that; how beautifully he identifies its deeper wisdom.

For, if power and domination are the currency of the earthly utopia, love and self-giving are the currency of eternal life and happiness. Countless willing Christian martyrs, joyful and happy to sacrifice their lives for the eternal salvation of others in imitation of their Lord, put an exclamation point on the mute eloquence of a God who takes on flesh only to sacrifice Himself for the prize of eternal happiness for souls. Paul himself was ultimately one of these.

The superficiality of the foolish virgins in the today’s gospel mirrors the flesh-deep, utopian “wisdom” of the world. They brought their lamps, but no oil. Like the seed in the parable of the sower that fell on ground with no depth (cf. Mt. 13), they could not stick with it for the long haul. So it is with superficial Christians, who buy into a feel-good religion aimed only at a happy community of friends who like each other and do nice things, rather than fully and deeply buying into the wisdom of the crucified Christ.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Rather than taking the wisdom of the cross for granted, ask Jesus why–really, why–He opted for this path rather than bringing the earthly domination of God through the most obvious means: earthly power. Then, consider the concrete areas in which you yourself are perturbed by the way the powers of the world lean away from the Gospel. How does the crucified Christ answer these perturbations? Ask Him how you can conform your life more fully to the wisdom of the cross.

Follow the Author on Twitter:
Follow @mvhaywilliams