Daily Retreat 05/24/06

2006 May 24 Wed: Easter Weekday

Acts 17: 15. 22 -- 18: 1/ Ps 148: 1-2. 11-12. 13. 14/ Jn 16: 12-15

From today’s readings: "God has overlooked the times of ignorance, but now He demands that all people everywhere repent.... Praise the name of the LORD, for His name alone is exalted; His majesty is above Earth and Heaven.... When He comes, the Spirit of truth, He will guide you to all truth!"

"I have much more to tell you...."

God is divine and infinite - we are human and finite. So, it stands to reason that we could (and should) spend our whole lives learning more about God, and getting to know Him better. While it’s true that saintly scholars such as Thomas Aquinas learned and taught much about God, in humility, neither Thomas nor any other Doctor of the Church ever considered himself some kind of an expert about God!

It’s essential that we never lose that humility in our own Christian discipleship. As a pastor, one of my greatest concerns is in regards to the number of Christians who seem to have little interest in deepening their faith and understanding of God. A kindergartner who can perfectly recite the alphabet understands that this skill is just the beginning of reading, and a child who masters the multiplication tables still has so much more to learn about mathematics. And yet, so many people are content to learn just the scantiest basics about God, and then conclude that there’s better things to do with their time and effort than ongoing faith formation.

To be sure, earthly life doesn’t end with a big pass or fail quiz about how much one has academically learned about God. But, on the other hand, this life indeed is, and should be recognized as the crucial pass/fail test about how much we’ve accepted and applied God’s initiatives in our own lives. If there were merely some magic formula for salvation (e.g., "I believe in Jesus as my personal Lord and savior"), then Jesus Himself would not have so diligently spent Himself in patiently teaching His disciples, and it would not have been necessary to send the Holy Spirit to guide the Church to the fullness of truth.

Even after spending three years in daily communion with Jesus, the apostles were still told by Him, "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now." Surely then, you and I can also recognize that we still have so much to learn from Him, and He will teach us, as we progress in our readiness and eagerness to learn!