Daily Retreat 08/19/07
2007 Aug 19 SUN:TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Jer 38:4-6. 8-10/ Ps 40:2. 3. 4. 18 (14b)/ Heb 12:1-4/ Lk 12:49-53
From today’s readings: “Jeremiah ought to be put to death; he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in this city, and all the people, by speaking such things to them.... Lord, come to my aid!... In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.... I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! ”
The Most Difficult Thing
What is the hardest, most difficult thing you were ever asked to do? And, were you persuaded to do it? I know the answer! I know the answer because I have dedicated my life to proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the One who explained that He had come to set the earth on fire, the One who admitted to the greatest anguish in anticipation of His baptism, His Passion on the Cross. And He asks you and me and all who would be His disciples to die to self and take up our Cross and follow Him.
That’s along the same lines of what Jeremiah was asked to do. A demanding prophet is never popular, particularly in demanding times, when people most want to hear anything to make them feel good about themselves. In Jeremiah’s day, the calamitous effect of decadent decades of a whole nation turning away from God was all too evident, but people preferred to pitifully punish the prophet who pointed out such problems, rather than heeding his call to do things God’s way. You see, Jeremiah was asked to do things God’s way in his own life, even at the price of his own life, and further, Jeremiah was asked to relay that same message to all the people. Not an enviable way to make a living!
And yet, the Second Reading surprises us with the unlikely but nevertheless undeniable reminder that, over the centuries, a great crowd of witnesses have joined Jeremiah in doing things God’s way in their own lives, even at the price of their own lives. How so? Simply by “keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before Him, He endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken His seat at the right of the throne of God. Consider how He endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood....”
What’s the hardest, most difficult thing you and I have ever been, and will ever be, asked to do? To take Jesus at His word, and to take our faith in Him seriously, to do things God’s way in our lives, even at the price of our very lives! It’s not at all easy to do that in these demanding times, when people most want to hear anything to make them feel good about themselves and their predicament. But it’s never been easy, nor will it ever be easy - by definition, dying to self is the hardest, most difficult thing one can be asked to do, and yet here we are, in spite of our unworthiness, in spite of our failings and fears, praying that same psalm, “Lord, come to my aid!” For the sake of the joy that Christ defined, we have been persuaded, and so we ask God for the grace to join that great crowd of witnesses who do things God’s way in their own lives, even at the price of their own lives!
Jer 38:4-6. 8-10/ Ps 40:2. 3. 4. 18 (14b)/ Heb 12:1-4/ Lk 12:49-53
From today’s readings: “Jeremiah ought to be put to death; he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in this city, and all the people, by speaking such things to them.... Lord, come to my aid!... In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.... I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! ”
The Most Difficult Thing
What is the hardest, most difficult thing you were ever asked to do? And, were you persuaded to do it? I know the answer! I know the answer because I have dedicated my life to proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the One who explained that He had come to set the earth on fire, the One who admitted to the greatest anguish in anticipation of His baptism, His Passion on the Cross. And He asks you and me and all who would be His disciples to die to self and take up our Cross and follow Him.
That’s along the same lines of what Jeremiah was asked to do. A demanding prophet is never popular, particularly in demanding times, when people most want to hear anything to make them feel good about themselves. In Jeremiah’s day, the calamitous effect of decadent decades of a whole nation turning away from God was all too evident, but people preferred to pitifully punish the prophet who pointed out such problems, rather than heeding his call to do things God’s way. You see, Jeremiah was asked to do things God’s way in his own life, even at the price of his own life, and further, Jeremiah was asked to relay that same message to all the people. Not an enviable way to make a living!
And yet, the Second Reading surprises us with the unlikely but nevertheless undeniable reminder that, over the centuries, a great crowd of witnesses have joined Jeremiah in doing things God’s way in their own lives, even at the price of their own lives. How so? Simply by “keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before Him, He endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken His seat at the right of the throne of God. Consider how He endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood....”
What’s the hardest, most difficult thing you and I have ever been, and will ever be, asked to do? To take Jesus at His word, and to take our faith in Him seriously, to do things God’s way in our lives, even at the price of our very lives! It’s not at all easy to do that in these demanding times, when people most want to hear anything to make them feel good about themselves and their predicament. But it’s never been easy, nor will it ever be easy - by definition, dying to self is the hardest, most difficult thing one can be asked to do, and yet here we are, in spite of our unworthiness, in spite of our failings and fears, praying that same psalm, “Lord, come to my aid!” For the sake of the joy that Christ defined, we have been persuaded, and so we ask God for the grace to join that great crowd of witnesses who do things God’s way in their own lives, even at the price of their own lives!
posted by FrPitstick | 8/17/2007
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