A Struggle

Being human is a constant struggle between being critical or uncritical; each moment of our lives calls for some choice to be made, some judgement to be made; our criticism defines how we think, how we behave, how we love; as Christians we are asked to examine ourselves internally, examine our lives and how we relate to the world externally and then develop a road map to move closer to God, following the lessons and instructions from the Gospels.

Jesus Christ offers to his followers, a foundation of love and hope. This foundation is fortunate for all believers who have sympathy for themselves, their neighbors, their community, their country, their world. These believers learn how to do the beneficial thing, to say the honest courageous thing, to contemplate the loving faithful thing: that is the beginning of a Christian life. Learning how to balance the public and private components of a life with Christian ideals, Christian believes provide an opportunity for a close relationship with God, better relationships with others. Each Christian receives this opportunity at Baptism, it is renewed each time we freely attend Mass, each time we freely acknowledge that we believe in and love God. For Christians there is no public face; we believe, we love God. For Christians there is no private face; God sees and knows all.

By simply trying to love our neighbors we are being radical. By simply trying to obey the commandments we are being radical. Our simple actions can open us to all types of criticism from friends, work colleagues, family members. Jesus Christ taught us how to overcome this criticism. It is not always easy to do. We must remember that we love God; that we want to be humble, loving servants. We must pray. We must be silent. We must be patient. We will learn when it safe for us to walk through the angry mob.

Christ did not offer assumptions, suppositions; he offered a peaceful, just, loving thought and sensibility. The philosophical questions of his preaching and his action challenged the dogma and customs of his time. He followed his course, did the things that he had to do. As Catholics we are called to live our lives with a direct connection to Christ, with a direct experience of Christ through the Liturgy of the Eucharist. As Catholics we are called to commemorate the life of Jesus Christ when we attend Mass and also by all the choices that we make in our lives.

Being Christian requires activity, not rhetorical ingenuity. Christian lives involve the formulation of faith, hope, love from their abstract dictionary meanings into something alive, personal, vibrant leading us toward God. We live in a time of mass communication, mass confusion; the truth is often somewhere else; the secular world promotes the idea of the truth but then quickly debunks it, questions it, searches for some reason not to accept it. The validity of our faith, of our religion often is attacked within the media; this occurrence is sad—and yet expected.

Our appreciation and love for God is ongoing with prayer, almsgiving, fasting and other activities of humility, charity, and obedience. How others view this remains beyond our control! Our behavior must remain true to God’s teaching.