Sir. 35:12-14, 16-18; Ps. 34:2-3, 17-19, 23; 2 Tim. 4:6-8, 16-18; Lk. 18:9-14
Finish the race! Through this ordinary time the Lord has been on his journey to Jerusalem persevering while being followed by both friend and foe, those who see him as a messiah and those who see him as a threat. He is about to finish the race for salvation history to be consummated in his death and resurrection. It is a race he embraces with love teaching us how to run our own race of life not in fear but in love of our final destiny. Finish the race of love in spite of the trials, persecutions, and the unknown and unseen around the bend because we have the promise of what lies ahead at the end of our journey.
St. Paul claims his “crown of righteousness” having “competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith”. St. Paul ran the race not for himself but for the call he received that through him “the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it”. St. Paul understood his call and lived it. Do we recognize our call before the Lord and are we on the right track to finish our race? The race we run is not to build up our material fortune, to leave a legacy of accomplishments, or to reach what Maslow calls the top of the hierarchy of needs, self-actualization, becoming the best of yourself.
Material goods including money becomes devalued, yesterday’s dollar is today’s dime. Accomplishments become faded memories as the world asks what have you done for me lately. Self-actualization is a humanistic concept that it is all about “you”, the best of yourself, but “no man is an island” so what about everyone else, does it matter? Where is God in our search for meaning and happiness? We can finish the race of life in search of ourselves and lose the connection to our creator who was waiting to take us on a different race, the eternal one.
The race we run is for the salvation of our soul. It is a godly race in the image of Jesus Christ himself, self-giving, sacrificial, and by divine design. What God has intended for us is the first step for our discernment. This ability to judge well God’s call can only come through prayer that we may hear his voice in our reflection as we seek to know and understand “who I am in God’s image called to be”. In other words, just to be myself is not our purpose. Our purpose is to discover our divine call and run our race. Then the God of our salvation will open up the gates of heaven and bring down his power and love, pouring out his graces on those who dare to say “here I am Lord, send me”.
Jesus called fishermen, a tax collector, and even his own persecutor in Saul, to a different race leaving behind all that they knew and believed for something greater was before them. Something greater is before us in the Eucharist through the celebration of the Mass. Jesus himself, body, blood, soul and divinity is present to us and the Church in America is calling for a Eucharistic revival to recognize Jesus is here for our worship, for our healing, and for our salvation. Jesus wants to take us in a new direction radically different from the world while yet still in the world as we fulfill our earthly pilgrimage. When we eat his body and drink his blood there is a revival of our souls becoming one with God in the Trinity. It is more than spiritual food for the race, it is a conversion of souls in the image of Christ himself. This is what happened to the apostles after the resurrection and they devoted themselves to prayer, teaching and the breaking of bread.
We break bread when we gather together in a shared faith at the dinner table, with our social circles sharing our faith, or as we work together for a common purpose, it is the bread of living our faith with others expressing in word and deed who we are as a child of God. I confess I am not one with the gift to proselytize challenging others in their faith. I am more on the side of making sure I am keeping the faith I have received being faithful to the call. There is however a time to be silent and a time to speak. When we encounter Christians of other denominations or people of no religious background who ask “why do you Catholics baptize children, pray to Mary and the saints, believe in purgatory” or any other act of faith they question, this is our opportunity to evangelize by offering a clear understanding of our faith.
Jesus promises us an Advocate, the Holy Spirit to be with us that we may also be advocates of our faith by word and deed. Our advocacy begins with love and ends with mercy. This is the race we are all called to run to follow the “God of justice, who knows no favorites” and recognizes Christ present in all. I believe it was St. Teresa of Calcutta who said it is beautiful to love others until you meet the other. If you look at a Tasmanian devil, they are cute, shy and no bigger than two feet but they are carnivorous with powerful jaws and can cause serious harm. We meet the stranger and we are polite and respectful then we turn to each other ready to attack with powerful jaws when things don’t go our way. That’s the challenge of keeping the faith, can we be good when it’s not easy, convenient, or going our way?
“The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat” says St. Paul. The Lord will rescue us if we but recognize evil and call out to him. The world has become immune to evil seeking to call it “justice, social norms, equity, restitution”. The killing of the unborn is intrinsically evil says the Church violating the commandment “thou shall not kill”. It is the work of the evil one who seeks to separate us by race relations, to cancel a culture based on religious freedom, to silence prayer among students in schools or employees at work. Will we go along to appease the evil around us or will we be a voice of faith and run our race with courage?
“The Lord hears the cry of the poor” so let us recognize our poverty, our brokenness, our lowliness. In the gospel we see the Pharisee who was convinced of his own righteousness comparing himself to the tax collector and “the rest of humanity” who he sees as sinful while he exalts himself. So quick to judge is the person of pride separating themselves from others. It is the humble who recognize if not by the grace of God we are the sinner, we share in the sins of this world, and we too need our redemption. Jesus on the cross is our reconciliation when we come to him “O God, be merciful to me a sinner”. It is only when we turn to the grace of God that we will finish the race and keep the faith.
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