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Heroes

Spartan

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


The ideal followers of the pagan gods in ancient Roman and Greek civilizations were the great, strong heroes–the mighty warriors, who gained victory for their people.

As Christians, without perhaps realizing it, sometimes strive to emulate these sorts of heroes in our service of God. We strive to be great protectors as fathers, the wisest and most caring of mothers, great communicators of the truth on social media, reliable rocks to our friends.

By contrast, Abram won God’s favor in another way in today’s first reading, after God had made him a great promise: “Abram put his faith in the Lord, who credited it to him as an act of righteousness.”

As Heb. 11:8-12 tells us, Abram found favor of the Lord, not by doing Him service, but by trusting in His promise.

When we trust in God’s providential promise, a feat much harder than it sounds, we become the tree that bears great fruit described in today’s gospel.

Trust turns us into the hero of our neighbor that we cannot become by our own effort, because we cease fretting for our own welfare, and gain the perspective that opens our eyes to others’ needs.

Faith and trust alone turn us into spiritual giants, worthy of the name of Christians.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to do whatever it takes, even allowing for great trials in your life if it is His will, to convey to you the gift of strong, invincible faith and trust.

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Superheroes

Hulk

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


We often think of the heroes of the Old Testament as semi-enlightened; we may think of them as stumbling and fumbling their way along, faithful at times and other times not, deprived still of the grace of Christ until He came.

And indeed, there are examples of missteps and infidelity among our heroes. King David committed a horrible double atrocity in the form of adultery and murder, before repenting deeply. And for his missteps, Moses was deprived personal entry into the Promised Land.

But the author of this morning’s reading from the letter to the Hebrews reminds us of how great and faithful, in fact, the heroes of the Old Testament really were. They endured unimaginable hardships, including gory execution, the details of which the author does not scruple to exclude. They recognized the one true God, and they were faithful to Him because He deserved their fidelity. Consider, for example, the execution, one by one, of seven brothers and their mother in 2 Maccabees (cf. 2 Mac. 7).

All of this, as the author points out, without the benefit of the grace won by Christ, and without understanding of the plan of salvation.

We Christians still undergo hardships of various sorts today, from the ordinary sufferings of everyday life, to outright persecution in some parts of the world. And, the martyrs are without doubt the heroes of our Church. Still, these had the paradigm of Christ’s crucifixion after which to model themselves.

The degree to which we as Christians are “spoiled” by ready, immediate access to the wellspring of grace is symbolized by the events of today’s gospel. The man possessed by a legion of demons, whom no one to that point had been able to subdue, much less exorcise, was rescued in a matter of moments by the overwhelming gift of the saving power of Jesus.

We have what the great heroes of the Old Testament would have longed to see: We have Jesus, whenever we need Him. We have an understanding of the narrative of salvation. No matter how constant that access, how everyday the gifts become, this immense bounty is not and never will be commonplace.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Contemplate the power of Jesus in the scene of exorcism in today’s gospel. Aware of what a privilege it is to have easy access to the grace won by Christ, boldly ask Him to pour it abundantly, without holding back, into your insecure, wounded, vulnerable, needy heart.

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