Word to the Wise
Sunday, March 21, 2010 - Fifth Sunday of Lent
[Isaiah 43:16-21; Philippians 3:8-14; John 8:1-11]I consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him....
Toward the end of his life, St. Thomas Aquinas had an experience of a "mystical" nature which nearly made him stop all writing because he said that all he had written appeared as "so much straw" compared to what he had experienced in that vision. We see some of that same attitude in St. Paul's passionate words today in the second scripture. The story of his conversion is told in some detail in the Acts of the Apostles on three different occasions (Chs. 9, 22, 26). He went from being a persecutor of Christians to being a pivotal figure in the development of the faith. In the passage from Philippians today, he refers to "the prize of God's upward calling.." as the end-all-be-all of his existence. Paul's enthusiasm is partly his personality and partly the power of the experience of faith. The personal relationship with Jesus Christ drives him on. For historical reasons relating to the Reformation, this attitude of intense faith took on a more interior expression if it was expressed at all. In many ways it did not surface again till the charismatic movement of the 1960's began to have an impact. Many Catholics still regard religious enthusiasm with a very cautious eye, preferring the more sober participation in the sacramental and liturgical life of the church. There is a danger in this because we cannot expect the sacraments to do it all. The sacraments are supposed to be moments in which faith IS expressed openly, but they are not the ONLY moments when faith can find expression. We do have a rich tradition of devotional life - Rosary, Benediction, Novenas, Pilgrimages, etc., but there is something else we may easily forget. Our faith must result in our care for one another, especially for the poor, the unborn, the hungry, the thirsty - all those mentioned in Matthew 25. Paul's "enthusiasm" resulted in his care fo the churches he established and in seeing that resources were shared. One way to gauge the spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ is to see how it works out in the community of faith. As we enter the very intense period of the last couple of weeks of Lent, it might be helpful to ask how our Lenten observance has improved our love for others. If it has only resulted in loss of weight from "giving up" some cherished treat, we might ask the Lord to send us some of that intensity of faith that St. Paul and St. Thomas Aquinas experienced so that we may love God AND neighbor and achieve that "upward calling" that is the real goal of all life. AMEN
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