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“Whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink — he will surely not lose his reward."
In his commentary on this passage from today’s Gospel, William Barclay observed:
“We cannot all be prophets and preach and proclaim the word of God, but he who gives God’s messenger the simple gift of hospitality will receive no less a reward than the prophet himself. There is many a man who has been a great public figure; there is many a man whose voice has kindled the hearts of thousands of people; there is many a man who carried an almost intolerable burden of public service and public responsibility, all of whom would gladly have borne witness that they could never have survived the effort and the demands of their task were it not for the love and care and the sympathy and the service of someone at home, who was never in the public eye at all. When true greatness is measured up in the sight of God, it will be seen again and again that the man who greatly moved the world was entirely dependent on someone who – as far as the world was concerned – remained unknown.”
“We cannot all be shining examples of goodness. We cannot all stand out in the world’s eye as righteous. But he who helps a good man to be good receives a good man’s reward.”
“The great beauty of this passage is its stress on simple things. The Church and Christ will always need their great orators, their great shining examples of sainthood, their great teachers, those whose names are household words. But the Church and Christ will also always need those in whose homes there is hospitality, on whose hands there is all the service which makes a home and in whose hearts there is the caring that is Christian love and, as Mrs. Browning said, ‘All service ranks the same with God.’”
Barclay’s reflection is reminiscent of three observations made by St. Francis de Sales on this very consideration of the importance of little things:
Today, in big ways – in little ways – how might God be calling you to live a rewarding life?
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Today we celebrate the lives and legacies of two great pillars of the early Church – Peter and Paul. Of course, a closer look as these two pillars reveals that they weren’t always very strong or sturdy!
Of St. Peter, Francis de Sales wrote:
“St. Peter was chosen to be the chief of the Apostles, although he was subject to so many imperfections that he even committed some after he had received the Holy Spirit, because, notwithstanding these defects, he was always full of courage, never allowing himself to be dismayed by his shortcomings.” (Conferences, Number IV, Page 63)
Francis expounds upon this duality of Peter’s nature in his Treatise on the Love of God:
“Who would not marvel at the heart of St. Peter, so bold among armed soldiers that out of all of his master’s company he alone takes his sword in hand and strikes out with it? Yet a little afterwards among ordinary people he is so cowardly that at the mere word of a servant girl he denies and detests his master.” (Book X, Chapter 9, p, 167)
Seems that this “rock” upon whom Christ built his Church had more than his share of cracks!
Let’s turn our attention now to St. Paul. Francis wrote:
“He fights for all people, he pours forth prayers for all people, he is passionately jealous in behalf of all people, and he is on fire for all people. Yes, he even dared more than this for ‘those according to the flesh,’ so that, if I dare to say so, he desires by charity that they may be put in his place with Jesus Christ. O perfection of courage and unbelievable spirit!” (Treatise, Book X, Chapter 16, pp. 188 – 189)
Of course, as in the case of Peter, Paul, too, has his shortcomings. In a letter of encouragement to a sister of the Visitation, Francis wrote:
“Do not be ashamed…any more than St. Paul who confessed that there were two men in him, one rebellious to God and the other obedient to God.” (Stopp, Selected Letters, page 224.)
Individually and collectively, the impact that Peter and Paul have made on the early Church cannot be overestimated. Without a doubt, they have left a lasting impression. That said, their lives also give poignant and powerful testimony to how God chooses the weak and makes them strong in bearing witness to him in the lives of other people.
God chose Peter and Paul in their time to be heralds of the Good News. God chooses us too, in our time, to do the same. As in the cases of Peter and Paul, the Lord chooses us as we are – imperfections, cracks, warts and all – and makes us something strong, beautiful, powerful and passionate for God…and for one another.
Who says that you have to be a perfect person to reflect the image and likeness of God? Who says that you have to be a perfect person to preach – in both word and deed – the Good News of Jesus Christ?
"Why are you terrified?”
Given the fact that the disciples got caught out on open water in a violent storm would be plenty of reason to be terrified, regardless of whether Jesus was with them or not. In the event, the disciples’ terror quickly subsided, when they witnessed the calming power of Jesus.
In a letter to Madame Gasparde de Ballon, Francis de Sales wrote:
“Regarding your fears, they are the work of the enemy who sees that you are quite determined to live in Our Lord without any reserves and exceptions. The evil one will make every sort of effort to upset you and make the way of holy devotion seem hard for you. What you must do to counteract this is to open your heart and often repeat your protestation never to give in, always to keep faith, to love the challenges of God’s service more than the sweetness of the world’s service and to say that you will never leave God’s side. Be very careful not to give up on prayer, for that would be playing into the hand of your adversary. Instead, continue to go steadfastly with this holy exercise and wait for Our Lord to speak to you, for one day he will say words of peace and consolation to you. Then you will know that your trouble will have been well spent and your patience and trust useful…Say often: ‘May Jesus reign!’” (Selected Letters, Stopp, pp. 225 - 226)
We all have things in life that should concern, scare - and even - terrify us. Jesus isn’t asking us never to be fearful or even terrified; rather, Jesus asks us to trust him precisely in those times of timidity and terror.
No matter how daunting the storms of life may be, don’t allow them to shake your faith in God’s love for you and fidelity to you. Regardless of how your boat may get rocked during the course of your life, Jesus will never – never – abandon you. He will either calm the storms for you or ride them out with you.
(July 1, 2020: Wednesday, Thirteenth Week of Ordinary Time) *****
“Seek good and not evil, that you may live…”
Do what is right; avoid what is wrong. As far as living a God-like life goes, that’s not a bad place to start.
But from a Salesian perspective, doing only that not good enough. Insofar as we are followers of Jesus, our baseline of goodness needs to be higher.
In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:
“Inasmuch as divine love adorns the soul, it is called grace, which makes us pleasing to his Divine Majesty. Inasmuch as it strengthens us to do the good, it is called charity. When it has reached a degree of perfection at which it not only makes us do good but also to do what is good carefully, frequently and promptly, it is called devotion.” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 35, p. 215)
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“The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just…”
Pursue what is true; promote what is just. We can accomplish this by doing what is right; we can accomplish this by avoiding what is wrong. As far as following the judgements of the Lord, that’s not a bad place to start.
But from a Salesian perspective, doing good and avoiding evil is not enough. Insofar as we are followers of Jesus, our baseline of truth and justice needs to be higher.
In his Introduction to the Devout Life, Francis de Sales wrote:
“Inasmuch as divine love adorns the soul, it is called grace, which makes us pleasing to his Divine Majesty. Inasmuch as it strengthens us to do the good, it is called charity. When it has reached a degree of perfection at which it not only makes us do good but also to do what is good carefully, frequently and promptly, it is called devotion.” (IDL, Part I, Chapter 35, p. 215)
Note the title of Francis de Sales’ book: It wasn’t called Introduction to a “Good-Enough” Life. It wasn’t published as Introduction to the “Good Life”. It was – and continues to be – Introduction to the Devout Life! And what is a devout life? It isn’t just turning away from sin – it isn’t even simply doing what is good. It is doing good – and living well – carefully, frequently and promptly.
Jesus isn’t simply remembered for the good that he did. He is also remembered for the ways in which he did what was good. In today’s Gospel, Jesus not only forgave a paralytic’s sins; he enabled the paralytic to walk! In a two-part healing, Jesus embodies both the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.
How can we pursue the Lord’s truth and justice just today?
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"Unless I see the mark of the nails…I will not believe.”
In the same chapter (“On Slander”) to which we referred during yesterday’s homiletic reflection, Francis de Sales wrote:
“Do not say that so-and-so is a drunkard even though you have seen him intoxicated, or that so-and-so is an adulterer even if you saw him in his sin, or that so-and-so is incestuous because he has been guilty of a certain depraved deed. A single act is not enough to justify the name of vice...To deserve the name of a vice or a virtue, there must be some advance in an act and it must be habitual. Hence it is untrue to say that so-and-so is bad-tempered or a thief simply because we once saw him in a fit of anger or guilty of theft…We must not draw conclusions from yesterday to today, nor from today to yesterday, and still less to tomorrow.” (Ibid, pp. 203-204)
So why is it, then, that we continue to refer to the Apostle whose life and legacy we celebrate today as “Doubting Thomas”. It has been nearly two thousand years since he declared to his peers what it would take for him to believe that Jesus was risen. Why should we vilify Thomas for being honest? Why should we beat up on Thomas for speaking from his heart?
Jesus certainly didn’t!
Jesus didn’t scold Thomas for his declaration. Jesus didn’t refuse Thomas’ request. Quite the contrary! Jesus showed him his hands and his side, saying, in effect: “See my wounds? You bet! Touch my hands and side? Absolutely! If that’s what it’s going to take to convince you that I’m real, Thomas, then by all means do it!” It was then that Thomas believed that the person who was standing in front of him was the same Jesus with whom he walked for three years - the same Jesus, who spent his ministry meeting people where they were, now offered the same courtesy to him.
In the closing scene from the film Red Dragon, Dr. Hannibal Lector’s character opined: “Our scars have the power to remind us that the past was real.” Perhaps Thomas intuited that only the scars left by Jesus’ humiliation, passion and death could convince him that Jesus had conquered death! Perhaps this is what prompted Thomas’ request. Perhaps that’s why Thomas had the courage to speak his truth despite the giddy euphoria of the other Apostles who had previously seen Jesus. Can you really blame Thomas for not taking their word?
Come to think of it, it is remarkable that the experience of resurrection did not remove the wounds of Jesus: the lasting marks of pain, disappointment, misunderstanding, rejection, humiliation, abandonment, suffering and death. Notwithstanding these wounds, however, Christ's resurrection powerfully demonstrated that pain, sadness, suffering and injustice -- as real as they were -- did not, ultimately, wield the last word. While suffering was clearly a part of Jesus’ life, there was so much more to his life than only suffering.
From this day forward, perhaps it’s time for us to retire the moniker “Doubting Thomas” and replace it with “Believing Thomas”!
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“Follow me…”
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America.
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary…to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The Declaration of Independence has more than a little bit in common with the Good News of Jesus Christ. After all, Jesus proclaimed the equality that comes from knowing that God loves everything (and everyone) that he has created. Secondly, Jesus preached that the essence of liberty is to be faithful to the will of God, that is, to be the kind of people that God created us to be. Finally, Jesus pointed out that the source of real happiness is found in placing ourselves at the service of others.
Of course, not only did Jesus proclaim, preach and point out these things – he also embodied these truths. He lived them.
Do you want to experience the Life, Liberty and Happiness that only Jesus can give?
Then, follow him! Live + Jesus!
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