Readings: Sir 27:4-7; 1 Cor 15:54-58; Lk 6:39-45
In the second reading today, St. Paul speaks about the victory over death which is ours when we clothe ourselves in immortality and incorruptibility. This victory, he says, comes through Jesus Christ. On the surface, we might fall into the trap of thinking that as long as we believe in Jesus we are automatically clothed in immortality and incorruptibility. However, St. Paul speaks of being “firm, steadfast, and fully devoted to the work of the Lord.”
It is the last part of this sentence that is of greatest importance. I say this because we might try to convince ourselves that we are completely firm and steadfast in our faith, meaning that we will never deny the Lord. But to say we are fully devoted to the work of the Lord is very different from simply believing in Jesus. When we consider the work of the Lord, we could look at it from a variety of angles. One of those angles, growth in virtue, is placed before us today in the readings.
In the Gospel, Jesus tells us that our words and actions flow from what is in the heart; this is true of both good and evil actions. Further, He says “from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.” This corresponds with what we see in the first reading where Sirach tells us a person’s faults appear when he speaks and one’s speech discloses the bent of a person’s mind.
Sirach also points out that tribulations test the just, because it is in the midst of tribulations that our virtues, or lack thereof, are demonstrated. When everything is going well and we are at peace, we can be the kindest of people. But when things are difficult, we are lacking sleep, we are anxious, or we do not feel well; it is when these kinds of things are oppressing us that we find out just how kind and gentle we really are.
In the spiritual life we know these tribulations are essential because virtues only grow when they are tested. God wants us to be humble, charitable, meek, patient, honest, pure, etc., so He allows us to be tempted in these areas. Sometimes in our weakness we fall. However, if we keep getting up after our falls and learn from them, then we gain the tools we need to fight against the temptations when they reappear.
It should be pointed out that God will even allow us to fall because it will help us to grow in humility and also remind us that we do not have the strength within our own self to overcome our vices and, therefore, we must learn to depend on the Lord for help. We still have our part to do, and we need to exert a 100% effort, but then we must rely on God to provide for what is beyond our own ability.
If we are praying and turning to the Lord for help in our trials, even if we fall prey to the flawed way we have dealt with things in the past, we are moving forward. With each attempt, we can learn, go back to prayer, develop or reiterate the plan we will try to follow for the next time a trial arises, and get back into the fight. The problem is not how many times we fail; the problem is when we fail to get back up.
St. Paul tells us that we already have the victory in Jesus. He has overcome both sin and death, so neither sin nor death has absolute power over us any longer. Our task now is to cooperate with God’s grace in order to remove sin from our lives. Because of the darkness of the mind and the weakness of the will that result from original sin as well as our own sins, this task is neither quick nor easy. For most of us, it will be a lifelong task. But with each step of progress we make in virtue, we are one step closer to the ultimate victory.
When we recognize our own sins, we will realize quickly that we cannot stand in judgment of someone else’s sins. Granted, it is both easier and more fun to look at everyone else, but it does us no good. Jesus tells us to take the plank out of our own eye rather than worry about the tiny sliver in someone else’s eye. When we can do this, it is a sign that humility is beginning to grow within us.
When this kind of humility shows in our speech and actions, we know that we are becoming firm, steadfast, devoted to the work of the Lord, and victorious over sin and death. This is the beginning of being clothed in immortality and incorruptibility through Jesus Christ!
Fr. Altier’s column appears regularly in The Wanderer, a national Catholic weekly published in St. Paul, Minn. For information about subscribing to The Wanderer, please visit www.thewandererpress.com.
