Word to the Wise
Thursday, October 20, 2022 - Thursday in the 29th Week in Ordinary Time
[Eph 3:14-21 and Luke 12:49-53]I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. [Ephesians]
This blessing/prayer in the Letter to the Ephesians is one of the most beautiful in the New Testament. Inner struggles can be just as challenging as outer ones, as we all know! This prayer of blessing speaks to the inner strength that enables us to deal with the outer issues. Feelings can conflict with values. Our culture offers options that are attractive to the appetites - substance, sex, financial or academic gain, activities - which conflict with the exercise of values such as sobriety, chastity/fidelity, simplicity and other virtues that our Christian Catholic tradition urges. At times we can feel as if we are battling the many-headed Hydra of Greek mythology. No sooner do we get one appetite under reason than another asserts itself. Inner strength can be sorely tested under these stresses.
The knowledge that we are loved by God and that the particular presence of the Holy Spirit will aid us is important in this prayer. Appetites can make common sense decisions seem far more difficult than they actually are. And when a particular appetite leads to an addiction, the struggle can be for moral survival! The prayer tells us that this need not take place and that we are not alone. To be "filled with the utter fullness of God" may require that we assert our freedom to make healthy and prudent choices and not be governed by appetite. The result can be true "know" of the love of Christ that "surpasses all knowledge." It is a life-long process but the effort is well worth it. AMEN