JESUS
IS HOME YOU might think that priests have an easy time reading the Bible. It is after all, a blueprint for building the house of their spirituality and their ministry, a guide for following Jesus. BUT it’s not that easy. Jesus
challenges all of us on practically every page to love Him more and to show that love by
what we do for each other. For instance, I was upset yesterday when I was reading Romans
8:9 in which St. Paul wrote: “If anyone does not have the spirit of Christ, he does
not belong to Christ.” I immediately
asked myself: “Do I have the spirit of Christ? Or, if not all His spirit, at least
some?” I started meditating on “the
spirit of Christ” and wondered how in the world Paul would ever think that we poor
mortals could have the spirit of Christ, our Redeemer, our Savior, the creator of heaven
and earth, who shed His very blood for us on the cross?
He’s asking a lot. Then I remembered something that was stressed so much in
the seminary: God never asks for more than we can deliver.
That made me feel better and less guilty. WHILE I was meditating on the passage, I heard an tiny voice saying: “one of the big things about the ‘spirit of Christ’ is that it means letting go and never giving up.” That thought made me groan because, like most people, I want to be in control of my life and destiny and I also like to indulge myself and say that all my problems are too much for me so I will give up on this or that one. Then I felt more guilty. PAUL evidently knew what I was thinking so he comes back at me in Romans 14:7: “None of us lives as his own master and none of us dies as his own master. Both in life and in death we are the Lord’s.” THAT gave rise to the question: “If I am the Lord’s, how much of me is mine?” I found the answer to that question in Mt. 10:39: “He who seeks only himself brings himself to ruin; whereas he who brings himself to nought for me discovers who he is.” I thought: Wow! That’s a terrific investment: I give up me and get Him. Some pay-off. ‘better than winning $40 million in the Missouri lottery. “ But how do I give up me? Evidently by doing things His way, you know, like obeying the commandments and living a life of love. IMMEDIATELY I was floored by a doubt: if I give up me I will never again feel secure. Security is very important to me. And then that voice came back to me: “SECURITY is spelled SURRENDER.” Evidently Jesus was telling me something that might seem easy but is very hard to do: “LET GO.” That’s what He did in the Garden of Gethsemane and on Mount Calvary when He said: “Father, not my will but thine be done.” That is the spirit of Christ. I went to our chapel and tried to think this thing out. I realized I had a new awareness. I saw more clearly that living is a strange and remarkable affair. We are here today and gone tomorrow. We have a good job today and tomorrow are out of work. We have good health today and tomorrow we get bad news from the Doctor. In a split second we can go from the warmth of love and success into the freezing cold of pain and failure as if God had thrown a switch and turned off the sun and we think it will never shine again. Depression enters the home of our life and takes up residence. BUT we who have “let go” do not get too depressed because we know that He has not thrown the switch and is right behind us saying: “Come to me all you who are weary and find life burdensome and I will refresh you …for I am gentle and humble of heart…..your souls will find rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden light.” Mt. 11:28 IT'S this type of reassurance from God that helps us hang in there and not give up. Giving up seems to be the easy way. In reality, it’s the hardest. Jesus never gave up. Yes, He had his hours of agony, but then came His Resurrection and eternal glory. We have had and will have our hours of agony and pain, but with the Spirit of Christ in us we will go on to resurrection and eternal glory. The thought is comforting. YES, Jesus is home. Let’s move in. It’s the only way to go.
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