Let Your Light Shine A Little Brighter

Today’s Gospel is preceded in the liturgy by the Alleluia antiphon, which is a verse from the Gospel of Matthew: “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” That antiphon is like a key to unlocking Jesus’ deeper meaning when he talks about lamps and light.

First, what IS this light? It is faith, which brings the light of Christ’s salvation and peace. It is also Truth, manifest in the laws of virtue and protected by the teaching and laws of the Church. These are the things that we must not deliberately hide from others. If we conceal the light we have been given in Christ, we deprive others of that light, which is bad for them and for us.

St. Chromatis goes so far as to say (in his treatise on the Gospel of St Matthew) that we in the Church must not fail to share the light of truth with others, or there will be dire consequences:

If we fail to live in the light, we shall, to our condemnation and that of others, be veiling over and obscuring by our infidelity the light men so desperately need…
That brilliant lamp which was lit for the sake of our salvation should always shine in us…
Therefore, we must not hide this lamp of law and faith. Rather, we must set it up in the Church, as on a lampstand, for the salvation of many, so that we may enjoy the light of truth itself and all believers may be enlightened.

We must let our light shine so that others will glorify God.

Why WOULD we be tempted to hide the light of law and faith? Many subtle reasons can keep us from practicing our faith boldly or speaking of it plainly. We are afraid that people will judge us harshly, mock or reject us if we confront their misunderstandings or prejudices directly. Depending on the circumstances, we may hesitate to make the Sign of the Cross and pray before a meal in a restaurant, wear a crucifix around our necks, or excuse ourselves from a social event so that we can attend Mass on a Holyday of Obligation. In other circumstances, we may shy away from standing up against those who promote positions that are not compatible with our beliefs because we don’t want to offend anyone, or we may laugh at inappropriate comments because we don’t want to be seen as a dullard or a killjoy.

But Christ tells us that we must let the light in us shine out to others, for their sake and for ours! We must not be afraid to BE who we ARE: children of a loving Father, who calls us to bring light to every darkened place so that all will glorify God.

How will you let your light shine a little brighter this week?

Kathryn is married to Robert, mother of seven, grandmother to two, and a lay Carmelite. She has worked as a teacher, headmistress, catechist, Pastoral Associate, and DRE, and also as a writer and voice talent for Holy Family Radio. Currently, she serves the Church as a writer and presenter, and by collaborating with the diocesan Office of Faith Formation, individual parishes, and Catholic ministries to lead others to encounter Christ and engage their faith. Learn more at www.kathryntherese.com or on Facebook @summapax.

September 18, 2018September 17, 2018

The Power Of The Great Prophet

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Today’s Gospel presents an interesting scene:

Jesus is traveling with his disciples and “a large crowd.” As they near the city of Nain, they encounter another “large crowd” mourning the death of a young man as they bear his body to its burial. His mother is already a widow, and the death of her only son leaves her without any security, reliant on the charity of others.

Jesus is moved with pity for her. Might he see in her a foreshadowing of his own widowed mother at Calvary? In his compassion, he intervenes to relieve her grief in a wholly unexpected – and for Jews, a somewhat shocking – way: Jesus touches the coffin, which would have rendered him unclean for a week. His gesture stops the procession of mourners in their tracks. Then Jesus demonstrates his power over death by telling the young man to arise. The Gospel tells us that the dead man sat up and began to speak. What might he have said? Did he recognize the Messiah in this miraculous moment? Had he seen the fulfillment of the Promise as his body lay in death? How might this experience have changed him?

We do not know. But what we do know is just as moving: “Jesus gave him to his mother.” Jesus restores what was lost, brings life and hope where there were death and sorrow. Understandably, the witnesses – two large crowds of people – are seized with fear, but the only thing there is for them to do: glorify God and acknowledge Jesus as a great prophet.

Two things are not immediately evident as we read this Gospel, but are worth pondering:

Luke uses the exact same words in this Gospel as are used in 2 Kings when Elisha brings life back to the Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4:32-37), drawing a clear parallel between the prophets Elijah and Elisha and Jesus. Jesus is indeed “a great prophet,” and more.
St. Ambrose suggests that the widow also represents Mother Church, grieving for her children dead in sin and carried beyond the security of her gates; the members of the Church will glorify God when He restores them in grace.

Do we sometimes think that Jesus is far from us in our sufferings and needs? Do we give into loneliness and despondency rather than reach out to Jesus? In the Gospels, we see Jesus’ compassion for suffering and his great power at work over nature, sickness, and even death. Do we truly believe that he has the same power in our own lives, that he can do all things? Let’s resolve to bring all our concerns to him in complete trust so that his power is manifest in our every difficulty.

September 9, 2018September 9, 2018

Personal Faith

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Jesus is preaching and healing in Gentile cities, areas that are contemptible to the Jews. He has already offered the Gospel to Israel, and now he is bringing his glorious Good News to those “outside” the Chosen People. All nations are invited into the way of salvation.

In the cure of the deaf man described in today’s Gospel, we see first that the people “begged him” to lay his hand upon the man and cure him, a kind of prayer of petition. Jesus takes the man aside, away from the multitude, and Mark is very specific about what happens when they are in private: “he put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue, and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened.’”

Again we see that Jesus preaches to the multitude, but he heals people one on one: he speaks to them, touches them, even puts his fingers into their ears and mouth. In another story, he mixes his own saliva with dirt and puts mud in a blind man’s eyes! These events illustrate Jesus’ “incarnational” presence to us. He – the invisible God – became flesh, and he respects the nature he has given us and uses material things to accomplish spiritual purposes as an affirmation of our bodiliness.

How does this apply today? Jesus’ healing still comes to us through words and matter in the sacraments. We sometimes inadvertently reduce the sacraments to “rites of passage” marking our maturing in the Church. They are that, but we miss the essential point when we stop short of seeing that sacraments are Christ’s way of remaining with us throughout time. Through the person of the minister, Jesus is present to us; he speaks to us, touches us, heals us, and calls us into a relationship.

And the sacraments are administered to us one on one. The deacon or priest doesn’t fling water from the baptismal font and hope it hits the right person! We assent to Baptism, and then it is administered to us BY NAME: “I baptize you, Kathryn Therese, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” When we come forward for Communion, there isn’t a basket of bread there and we grab a hunk. We come forward as individuals in need of the nourishment of the Bread of Life; we must personally assent to this Truth by our “Amen,” and then it is given, not taken – we “receive” Holy Communion. There is no rite of “Confirmation en masse”; the bishop anoints each individual by name. We confess our sins individually to the priest, and we are personally absolved of them.

When we see Jesus’ healings in the Gospel, we should not see them as distant events. Rather, let us see them as illustrations of Jesus’ presence to us, right here and right now in the sacraments of the Church, and give thanks.

September 6, 2018

Trust In Him

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Today’s Gospel from Luke has so much activity that it can be hard to see beyond the surface: the lake, the boats, the crowd, the nets, the catch, and finally, the fishermen leaving their fishing behind.

It was helpful to me to see this from several perspectives: the crowd, Simon Peter, and Jesus.

The crowd is eager to hear this rabbi standing on the shore, so eager that their movement toward him keeps pushing him toward the water until he decides to get into a boat in order to preach. When he is finished speaking, do some of those people remain, hoping he will begin speaking again? Do some of them go back to the duties of their lives? How many witness the miraculous catch of fish?

Simon Peter is weary from a fruitless night of fishing and catching nothing, but when the Lord gets into his boat, he obliges and rows out a little way, and waits. Then Jesus issues a strange command for him to lower his nets (which Simon had been washing because he was already done fishing) for a catch. This is absurd. Fish are not caught this late in the morning, and Simon Peter, always quick with a retort, tells him that this will be useless; then, perhaps catching himself, says, “but at your command, I will lower the nets.” And the nets are overfilled with fish, so many that the nets are tearing and they need help from others to bring them in. Their boats are so full, they are in danger of sinking! Simon Peter is not weary anymore; every fiber of his being is now engaged! Then, overwhelmed at this inexplicable and exhausting event and regretting his initial doubt, he falls on his knees to confess his utter unworthiness to be in Jesus’ presence.

Jesus, ever the teacher, is teaching as we enter this scene. When he finishes preaching, he is still teaching; he wants to teach these first disciples an essential lesson, not about fishing, but about mission and evangelization. He tells them to do something rather ridiculous – after a night of fruitless labor, Jesus tells them to labor a little more. Then he fills their nets to overflowing and responds to the openness of Peter’s confession with a prophetic word: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

What can we learn?

From the crowds, we learn to keep our eyes on Jesus; everything he does is overflowing with meaning!
From Peter, we learn to TRUST Jesus, and obediently continue working even when things seem fruitless; if Peter had refused to put out his nets again, Jesus could not have filled them!
From Jesus, we learn that the work is all HIS, so we need not be afraid of what he calls us to do, nor of our apparent fruitlessness; our efforts will bear fruit according to his will, if we are willing to leave everything and follow him unreservedly.

August 25, 2018August 24, 2018

How I Look

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Thanks to the fallenness that is ours due to the Original Fall, our human nature wants to continually put our own selves first, consider our own desires first, make sure we are taken care of first (St. Augustine says sin makes us incurvatus in se: curled in on ourselves). Without grace, we are almost hopelessly selfward, but Jesus calls us to something more.

The Pharisees took this selfwardness a step “up” by masking their self-love in religious trappings: broad phylacteries, long tassels, honoraria, and places of honor, under a guise of uprightness and righteousness veiled with false humility. These men were all about themselves, using religion as a way to advance themselves and pat themselves on the back. Jesus himself called them a brood of vipers.

Jesus expresses this to the crowds not to teach them to judge others and shame them, but for their spiritual benefit. He wants them to learn to separate the office from the person who holds the office; those “on the chair of Moses,” in authority over the people of God, should be obeyed but not imitated. They tell people what God wants, but they miss the point themselves.

How can this be? How can people who study the word of God, spend much time in prayer, and follow God’s law with exactitude fail to grow in holiness? It happens all the time, and Jesus’ final words in today’s Gospel tell us the precise reason: a lack of humility.

Are all these “right” things done for the wrong intention? Are these “good” things done to build a positive image of me, for myself or for others? There can be a lot of “self” in our apparent selflessness; if so, I am the recipient of my own “gift,” and it becomes no gift at all.

The key to getting it right is loving HUMILITY. If what we give we give for the benefit of the other, if we pour ourselves out with the intention of really helping others and glorifying God (and not ourselves), then we give truly. If we pray to worship God and not to make ourselves feel like we deserve what we want, then we pray truly.

We need to examine our conscience with some objectivity to know ourselves in the light of the Holy Spirit. We might be “ok” on the surface, but what about the next level?

Am I more concerned with how I look or how I live? Is my primary concern what I like or what I truly love? Am I eager to be recognized, to receive credit for what I do? Am I able to give of myself without any attention, and sometimes even without any gratitude?

It is natural to desire affirmation and acknowledgment; but God calls us to a SUPERnatural attitude that offers our whole self in service to the Gospel and gives HIM all the glory. And He will be true to His promise that “whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

August 12, 2018August 10, 2018

What Is Living Bread?

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John 6 is dense with meaning, and the Church breaks out the reading of it over several Sundays. It begins with Jesus feeding more than 5,000 with a few loaves and fishes and then quietly withdrawing before they can make him king; he wants to illustrate that the Kingdom is not what they think it is, and his Kingship is different than they envision.

Last week, we saw the crowd taking boats to Capernaum in search of Jesus because of this miracle, and he tries to help them see that their true hunger cannot be satisfied by endlessly and miraculously multiplying loaves of bread; that Gospel reading ends with Jesus proclaiming, “I am the bread of life,” come down from Heaven like manna.

Today’s Gospel begins with the Jews protesting against this statement; after all, they know him and his parents, so what is he talking about? Jesus tells them to stop complaining amongst themselves but does not directly answer their objections; he prefers to get right to the heart of the matter. He works to draw them into understanding a big truth, one that he surely realizes they cannot fully grasp: he is sent by the Father, and he will raise up on the last day those whom the Father draws. They must believe in order to access this eternal life from the Father, through Jesus. Then he invites them to this belief by stating again clearly, “I am the bread of life,” the bread of eternal life, “the living bread that came down from heaven.” Whoever eats this bread will live. Will they accept this? Will they believe and live? Almost as if daring them to turn away in horror, he amplifies this boldly: “the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

We cannot blame the Jews for their disbelief and rejection (which we will hear about next weekend!) of these graphic words; they interpret this as a kind of cannibalism, which is forbidden and repugnant. Even his close friends did not really understand what he could mean by these words at this point in their journey with him.

Only over time (and the light of the Holy Spirit) did they understand what Jesus meant by giving his flesh for the life of the world, as they witnessed his passion and crucifixion. Only over time did they understand what it meant to be “raised up,” as Jesus rose from the dead. Only over time did they understand that we are given, not a corpse as “bread,” but the glorified Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of the Risen One in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Only over time did they understand that this Bread that is Jesus is the only way to fill the deepest hunger of the human person, the Source and Summit of the Christian life.

Where are we in our journey to understanding and accepting this fundamental Truth of our faith?

August 7, 2018August 6, 2018

Do We Get The Message?

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Today’s short Gospel seems simple, but it is packed full; we should take it one step at a time so nothing is missed.

First, we note that it is the disciples of John the Baptist who are asking the question. They are trying to make sense of this new rabbi. They have aligned themselves with John, who is clearly a prophet, and they adhere to the common (and important) Old Covenant practice of frequent fasting. It is logical for them to ask why Jesus and his disciples do not fast, when clearly it is the right thing to do – the Pharisees fast, and so do John’s followers.

Jesus does not make excuses. Instead, as he often does when confronted by those who do not yet understand who he is and what he has come to establish, he shifts the perspective. “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?” This would make little sense as an answer to their question, except that it is Old Testament language which his hearers would have recognized; the prophets often referred to Yahweh as being betrothed to His people. By calling himself the Bridegroom, Jesus is saying that the time of betrothal is over and the wedding feast is about to begin – he is declaring that he is God, the Bridegroom of his beloved people.

But Jesus goes farther, with more Old Testament references. According to Psalm 102, the Old Covenant was scheduled to “wear out like a garment”; Jesus brings something completely new, which cannot be simply part of a patchwork on that old worn out garment. It is like new wine, which cannot be put into old wineskins without bursting them.

Jesus has shifted the discussion so that John’s disciples might open themselves to see something new here. John the Baptist had made clear that he was not the Messiah, but was only preparing the way for him; in one sense, it was his task to help the Jews be open to the newness Jesus was bringing. The abundance of grace Jesus brings in establishing the New and Eternal Covenant cannot be contained within the structured limits of the Old Covenant. Did they get the message? The Gospel doesn’t tell us what John’s disciples thought of Jesus’ answer.

Jesus invites all of us to open ourselves to new possibilities, new opportunities, new manifestations of the Spirit, new apostolates in every age, to face the challenges and sins of every generation. Do we get the message? Have we personally glimpsed the awesome newness of life that Christ came to bring, and that he brings to us continually in the sacramental life of the Church? Are we convinced that the Good News is really good enough to share with others? Are we open to the surprises of God?

August 1, 2018July 31, 2018

Kingdom Of Pearls

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Today’s brief Gospel always seemed a bit remote to me: buried treasure and precious pearls are far from my experience and not very interesting. But I had missed the subtle point here.

Jesus’ parables of the Kingdom of Heaven fall from his mouth like a stream over rocks. The metaphors are varied and plentiful because his understanding of the Kingdom is rich and profound. He describes it from many angles, attracts us with many ideas, and we should see these images as points of meditation.

Clearly, by comparing the Kingdom to a hidden treasure and a pearl that would make one rich, Jesus means to help us understand the very great value we should place on the Kingdom above all other things: when we find this true Treasure, we will be content and our labors will be over because we will have all that we desire. This in itself can serve as a fruitful reflection on our personal priorities. Are we willing to “sell all we have” to buy that one thing? What are we holding on to because we think it will be more fulfilling, more necessary to us, than the very Kingdom of God?

But there is another point worth pondering here: sometimes, we think that we will reach the Kingdom by our work and toil and sacrifice. But in these comparisons we see that, once we have glimpsed the richness of the Kingdom, we willingly let go of everything else, so that we are free to hold onto it. In the two instances in today’s Gospel, the person FIRST discovers the great (hidden) valuable and THEN, JOYFULLY, sells all that he has in order to possess it.

In other words, our “work” is first to seek the Kingdom, like digging for treasure or searching for pearls. In order to seek well, we must be willing to do some hard work/study/prayer, remain open to surprises, and let go of our own ideas and agendas so that God can lead us to the Truth. Then, when we glimpse the depth and beauty and richness of this Truth – the Truth that is the Kingdom, the Truth that is friendship with Jesus and adopted Sonship with him – we must be willing to let go of everything else that we thought was truth, that we thought would bring fulfillment, that we thought would bring us joy. Only then, when we let go of every falsehood and shadow, are our hands and hearts finally free to embrace the Kingdom we have glimpsed.

Let us each pray for the spiritual freedom to seek the Truth, Beauty, and Goodness that is the Kingdom of Heaven, so that we are at last free for friendship with Jesus.

July 26, 2018July 25, 2018

Parables Of Truth

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Have you ever had a conversation with someone who was unable to see what seemed so obvious to you? This can be a frustrating experience. One way to open their eyes is to offer them a chance to accept an idea and THEN apply it to the current situation; you might hold out a different example to help them see what you see. This is what Jesus does in his parables.

In today’s Gospel, the disciples ask Jesus about this. He has just spoken to the crowd about the seed and the sower, and the disciples ask him why he speaks to them in parables. Jesus answers that many cannot see or hear the full truth because of their stubborn hearts. He further reveals that when we let go of our stubbornness and are freely open to the truth, we receive more and more, so that we are rich in grace and truth!

The thing to keep in mind is that Jesus never runs out of ways to communicate truth to us. The infinite creativity of God and the unfathomable mercy of God mean that we are given chance after chance, opportunity after opportunity, to begin anew to open ourselves fully so that we can see and hear what the Lord is communicating to us. He keeps teaching, keeps saving, keeps forgiving, keeps loving. Our blindness and deafness are no obstacle for Him; only our willfulness and stubborn selfishness can keep His light from shining for us, in us, through us.

We can’t out-run his merciful love. We can’t out-sin His loving mercy.

Let’s begin anew right now. Let’s ask the Lord to show us where we have neglected to open ourselves to Him, and then ask for the grace to let go of all that keeps us in darkness. And then, let’s boldly ask the Lord to shine the light of his truth and grace in every darkened corner so that we are at last his true disciples.

July 16, 2018July 15, 2018

Jesus IS Lord

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You might be scratching your head or recoiling in dismay when you read or hear the Readings for today. Isaiah’s word from the Lord is jarring: “Trample my courts no more! Bring no more worthless offerings; your incense is loathsome to me… When you spread out your hands, I close my eyes to you; though you pray the more, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood!” Yikes. This is God’s Old Testament reaction to the sin and disobedience of his Chosen People.

We might expect to hear “nicer” words from Jesus, the Prince of Peace, in the New Testament; but in today’s Gospel he says something equally jarring: “I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law…” These words recall to the minds of his hearers the word of Micah (Micah, 7:6), who foretells the time of a breakdown in family loyalties, leaving God as their only hope of salvation.

This is where Jesus wants to lead his hearers: to put loving trust in Jesus our Savior above every created thing, including family members if necessary! How can he say this? How can he demand this? Only because Jesus IS Lord. Only because Jesus IS God, Savior, and Prince of Peace can he make extreme demands; only because his promises are even more extremely generous would we embrace his demands. He truly asks us to sacrifice our worldly goods, our family relationships, our comfort and security in this world, and even our mortal life for love of him. But in return, he promises we will be repaid a hundredfold, we will find our true selves, we will have eternal life.

If we fail to make Jesus the source and center of our lives, we are not worthy of him. He makes extreme claims on our desires and energies for one reason: LOVE. Our friendship with Christ must come before every other human relationship and pursuit, because this is the way to true joy, peace, and everlasting life, which he promises us. Jesus knows the deep desires of the human heart and spirit, and he knows that only intimacy with God can fulfill those deepest longings.

We come from God, we are returning to God, and God is rescuing us every step of the way; but every step of the way, we must choose loving trust in God and the good of others over our own selfishness, self-reliance, and security. He calls us to self-governance and obedience to the Father’s will, for love of him, as the way to true freedom of spirit. No matter what comes to us from outside of us, the “sanctuary of the heart” must be guarded by obedience to God’s will, lit with love, and moved by the willingness to give all with complete trust in exchange for eternal life with him and with all those for whom we sacrificed.

This is the promise to which Jesus’ words and life point and draw us.

This is the way he has already walked.

And he invites us to take up our cross and follow after him, “losing” our small earthly plans and desires in exchange for his glorious and eternal life.

July 9, 2018July 8, 2018

Risen From The Dead!

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We know that we must believe in order to be saved. Sometimes, we must admit that our belief is little more than lip-service. But we owe God all of us, as the Sh’ma states: “the Lord is our God, the Lord is One… And you shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” We must love God with our whole being, and as the best Teacher, He will give us opportunities to engage and express that faith, just as he did in today’s Gospel.

Imagine the depth of faith of the “official” (most probably not a Jew) whose daughter is already dead. This is the time for mourning, not for running after some itinerant Jewish rabbi. The professional mourners are already about their business, but this official leaves to find Jesus, interrupts his teaching, and kneels before him in deference, confident that he will be heard, confident that Jesus will intervene. Perhaps the official has seen Jesus work miracles before; but has he ever raised the dead back to life? No doubt impelled by love for his daughter, he dares to believe that Jesus will do just that. He asks him to come and lay his hand on the girl, and Jesus, somewhat astonishingly, rises to follow him.

Now imagine the thoughts running through the mind of this official when the woman with the hemorrhage interrupts their journey! A delay of this urgent business must have caused some anxiety; he is challenged to be patient and remain steadfast in his faith, even though the outcome is delayed.

The woman with the hemorrhage (who has been unable to worship with the community for twelve years, because she is ritually unclean!) expresses her faith by touching Jesus’ cloak, trusting that she can be cured by simply coming in contact with his clothing. Her trusting touch is indeed rewarded, but Jesus points to the cause for her healing: “Your faith has saved you.”

Finally, the group arrives at the official’s house, and as if to underscore the reality of the daughter’s death, the Gospel tells us that the mourners ridiculed Jesus for saying the girl was only sleeping. These people certainly knew death when they saw it; there could be no doubt that the girl was really dead. But Jesus touches her, takes her by the hand, and “the little girl arose.” The official’s faith and trust were rewarded with healing, as the woman’s had been.

There is another parallel in these two intertwined stories: the woman expressed her faith by touching the cloak of Jesus; the girl is healed when Jesus touches her. In these actions, we see how Jesus’ presence is “incarnational” – he respects the nature he has given us and uses material things to accomplish spiritual purposes, affirming bodiliness. There is nothing in our minds and memories that wasn’t first in the senses; we know and remember what we have experienced.

The healing of Jesus came through touching and words, and his grace still comes to us through matter and word and ritual in the sacraments. The sacraments are signs that point beyond themselves to invisible realities, using water and oil, bread and wine, signing with the cross and laying on of hands and eating and drinking to bring us into contact with the living God. We must receive them in faith, so that we can be healed and freed and restored to life by Christ, as the woman and little girl were in today’s Gospel.

June 26, 2018

Trust in the Lord

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Imagine you are an ancient king, responsible for a vast area and the lives of many people. Neighboring kings have joined forces and are destroying nearby kingdoms, and now send the message that you are next. What would you do? Would you panic? Would you begin scrambling for a solution? Would you remind yourself that you are in charge and if something must be done, you must do it? Would you try to negotiate a treaty or run and hide yourself in the mountains and wait out the destruction? Would you rally your troops to defend the kingdom and lead them into battle or find safety for what you treasure?

This is the situation in today’s first reading from 2 Kings. And Hezekiah, king of Judah, did none of those things. When he received a message from the king of Assyria, who was threatening doom, Hezekiah went immediately into the temple of the Lord and put all his hope in the God of Israel. He first praised God as the One above all others, the One Who is over all the powers of earth. Then he begged the Lord to consider the threat of Assyria, and how they are a taunt against the one true God. And then he humbly asked God to save the kingdom of Judah from the power of the Assyrians – but not for their own sake, but “that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God.” Hezekiah begged the Lord to show his power so that others might believe. God responded with the promise that the Assyrians would not win, that the Lord himself would “save this city for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.” God, faithful to his promises in every generation, struck down 185,000 soldiers and sent them packing back to Nineveh. Hezekiah won by putting all his trust in the Lord.

This brings us, by an indirect path, to the Gospel for today. We know many of these words, as they have become adages in our language: pearls before swine, do unto others, the narrow gate. Our familiarity with the phrases might obscure for us some of the subtleties in the message. Jesus is very clear about something that we can be a little foggy about: “the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many.” When I read that, I am shaken by the truth that many are following the way to destruction. This turns my understanding of the world on its side. I want to believe that most people are good and generous most of the time, that most people follow the rule to “do unto others,” and so they are on their way to eternal life. The Lord’s words tell a different story. “How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” How can this be?

It’s simple, really. The narrow gate and constricted road are not the way of niceness, or the way that our culture sees as “successful.” To understand it, we must look beyond the surface, so that we see it is the way of complete trust in the Lord, rather than self-reliance, no matter how “successful” that makes us.

It is the radical trust that goes to prayer before mustering an army, that trusts in the Lord to fight our social and emotional battles rather than insisting on fixing everything ourselves, that entrusts all the people we love and all their situations to the goodness of God before reaching in with our very limited human resources. It is the deep trust of a child to her loving Father, even when that Father is unseen. It is the loving trust that allows us to finally let go of our worrying and questioning; the love that casts out fear and sets us free.

Most of the people I know ARE good and generous and kind. But God sees into the heart, and he knows the narrow places in each of us that we do not even know ourselves so He knows whether, deep down inside, we rely on ourselves and our own weapons and tools and resources or, like Hezekiah, truly put all our trust in the Lord.

This does not come easily to our fallen human nature, and it is certainly not “the way of the world.” Let us each ask God to show us the ways we insist on taking care of things ourselves, and to give us the grace to entrust each of these things completely to him, so that we at last truly trust in him and are set free to do His will rather than our own.

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