By Father Rich Tomkosky
Part of the struggle of our fallen human nature is the weakness in all of us — to a greater or lesser degree, based upon our temperament, family background, and other variables — to want to be liked and thought well of by other people, even to the point sometimes of compromising our faith, core principles, values, and Catholic training to the detriment of our soul and our relationship with the Blessed Trinity, which has to be the number one priority in our life as a Christian and then truly loving our neighbor in Lord and not apart from Him.
The prophet Jeremiah struggled with this dynamic as the people of Israel turned on him because they as a whole don’t like what he is saying to them, particularly about the need to change their behavior to follow God faithfully.
The call to repentance and conversion is never a popular one! How often humans attack the messenger because they don’t like the message. This is a perpetual temptation for us priests, especially those of us who are pastors, to not tell our spiritual flock what they need to hear for the true good of their souls, but instead to tell them what they want to hear so we will be more popular – the “cool” priest!
In daily prayer and reflection, we always need to remind ourselves that as disciples of Jesus we are called to a certain standard of conduct and inner transformation that the world doesn’t like. We have to be willing to go against the grain, even when it brings on ridicule and rejection. That is why the Holy Spirit gives us the spiritual gift of fortitude in our Baptism and deepens that spiritual gift in our Confirmation; and we priests are given the special grace by God in our priestly ordination to lead His people, sharing in Jesus’ mission as priest (offering spiritual sacrifice, especially the sacrifice of the Holy Mass, hopefully daily, and to share in the victimhood, the suffering of Jesus for the good of souls, esp those entrusted to our care), prophet (to give homilies and teach God’s Word and the Catholic faith with integrity) and king (to shepherd God’s people with a Father’s heart, looking out for their true good, and to be a good administrator of the goods of the Church both temporal and spiritual).
Giving into sins of various sorts and human respect can tie us together in frightening web of darkness. As Saint Paul notes, before Jesus came to earth and taught us the truth and offered his life as a living sacrifice for the salvation of mankind and gave us the Catholic Church as the Ark of Salvation, we were all in the darkness. None of us could go to Heaven. All the just souls from Adam onward were then waiting to be released from Shaol or the place of the dead, which is what the line Jesus descended into Hell (not the place of the damned) means in the Apostles Creed.
Jesus gives us an essential warning that we need to be concerned about what our Heavenly Father thinks of us, not what other people think. Fear not the ones who can kill your body but not your soul; rather fear the One who can send both body and soul to Gehenna (Hell).
Of course if we worry about what our Heavenly Father thinks (e.g., not receiving Holy Communion if we are in the state of mortal sin and don’t ever put others on the spot in that regard, asking why they didn’t go to Communion – that is between them and God), we will be striving for holiness (e.g. praying, offering works of charity for the ultimate good of souls, doing penance, and going to Confession regularly), and we will set a good example for those around us, and so everything truly does work together for the good of those who love God ( see Romans chapter 8).
God’s Providence is always looking out for our good, but His ways are not our ways. Never forget that! It takes humility to surrender our mind to God’s will and trust Him rather than our own thoughts and wanting to do things our way, but it always works out better.
God loves us beyond our imagining and so will do everything in His power to save us, but will we respond in kind by freely saying yes to Him out of love and so keep His Commandments? Or will we say no and live in our natural selfishness doing what I want to do apart from God? Where we end up in eternity depends on some big choices and many small ones.
Life is never boring with God. Everything matters — something to ponder seriously. What a gift that we can help others in this process of consistently saying yes to God if they are spiritually drifting right now. Let’s help each other grow in holiness and not be concerned ultimately about human respect, but only pleasing the Lord in all we say, think, and do. God bless you.
Father Rich Tomkosky is the Pastor of Saint Thomas the Apostle Parish in Bedford and the Pastor of Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Beans Cove.
