5th Sunday. God believes in us

I want to repeat again our Catholic understanding of Sacraments: a visible sign of an invisible reality.

A source of anger/frustration, of sadness, happens when someone we know who has abilities does not try to use it. Parents and teachers experience this with children; they know the child has the ability to think or do something, yet the child does not seem to want to or thinks he or she can’t. The child has the intelligence or the skills; they have the gift…and yet…!!!!

It also applies to other adults…we recognize in someone a capacity to grow, to do something, to act better; yet they will not, or think they cannot. This is not about controlling or forcing, but is that heart knowledge: we know they can do it! We believe in them.

What do we do? We want that inner capacity to be expressed in their lives!  Yelling and threatening probably does very little. Crying as well and guilt tripping certainly does not.  It seems a long haul effort; of affirmation and support; encouragement and by giving example within our own lives. It is also accepting that we can only control ourselves and our reactions; humility.

I am willing to believe this is God’s attitude with humanity.

God created us, God still creates us with love, with goodness. Every human person ever born, and will be born, is born with the capacity for love, for goodness.  That is our inner reality.

God creates us to live that inner reality; to make it visible. A holistic, integrated person is a person whose inner reality matches their outward expressions: we are sacramental. A person who truly is free lives out their inner goodness.

This salvation history has been and is God calling us out to be true to ourselves; to be the Children of God.  God calls out Israel especially so that they can show to all the world the beauty of what it means to be a child of God; the power of living out the goodness.  God, as scripture says, also got frustrated, sad with Israel when they failed; and God rejoiced when Israel got it right.  The prophets time and again, reminded and called Israel to do better. Israel had the capacity to live well; to show the world in their actions of justice and peace, mercy and generosity, humility that living that virtuous life is one of true freedom; joy; peace.

Jesus Christ becomes THE Sacraments of Sacraments: the visible sign of the invisible reality of God.  Jesus fulfills the role of Israel.  Jesus Christ is THE Sacrament of our humanity; of our created nature as Children of God.  He reveals to us that to be whole, to be free, our own actions must reflect that inner goodness that God has placed there.  Jesus tells us that God believes in us!

When we accept this, actions will follow our belief.

Given this, we can grasp what Jesus speaks of in the Gospel. He is not merely giving marching orders; to be good for the sake of being good; or so as to earn rewards, to get into heaven, to obtain our wishes.  Jesus tells us to do good, because we are good. Jesus tells us we have the capacity to do amazing things for the good of this world. And by our own actions, we can demonstrate this and then inspire others to believe as well.

We can be a light, we can be those who others learn from and are drawn to Christ as well.  

I remember many many years ago, I was with a certain youth group and we had traveled and had to stop in a casino for dinner. Not a huge number of kids, certainly less than a dozen. We got to our table, ordered, and when the food came we said the blessing and ate. Now, it was a Friday in lent and some of the kids ordered clam chowder thinking it would be safe. However they got upset because unbeknownst to them bacon was in the chowder. They were all worried about being sinful. We explained to them it was all fine: your intention was good but we did not know they would include bacon. Yet, outside of that little drama, something else was taking place. Some adult customers who had been there came up to us and commended us on the behavior of the kids. They had watched them be polite, joyful, prayerful and it made an impression on them and they wanted us to know.

What kind of impression do we make? As we are out in the world, what are we reflecting about ourselves, about being a Catholic?

We have the capacity to be generous, to be kind, to be merciful.  We have the capacity to forgive those who have hurt us; and to ask for forgiveness. We have the capacity for such life affirming actions.

It is not that Catholics are better than everyone else. No, we are not. We and everyone are equal to everyone else, in that we all have the same capacity for goodness, for doing what is right and just, for doing what brings life into this world.  We Catholics have the responsibility, as a Sacramental people, to live it out. We have the responsibility and the knowledge and the belief in the inherent goodness of all to live that out so that others may know.  

The saints are Saints because of this. Think of St. Therese of the Little Flower who endured her own feelings of hopelessness and her disease; inspiring others to trust. Saint Francis of Assisi who saw that goodness, not just in humans, but in all of creation, and shared that too.

All rooted in Jesus; the human and divine as one; whose life revealed it.  Jesus who never gave up on us, who never gives us up on us.  We celebrate and remember this in our Sacrament of the Eucharist: given to us to remind us of our identity, our reality as children of God; given to us not as a reward, but as a call to live out our goodness; a beckoning to be true to ourselves.

It can be frustrating and disheartening to see so many people not living it out. We see our world in which it appears liars are promoted; life is treated callously; choices are only about short term goals and happiness.

Don’t give in, Don’t give up. God believes in us; and we can too; in Christ.