By Father Rich Tomkosky
Saint Paul teaches us that we are baptized into the death of Christ Jesus, so that we can also share in the new life won by His Passion, Death and Resurrection. Jesus dies no more, and so we His disciples are called to live in such a holy way as to not experience the second death that awaits the ungodly who refuse to repent of their evil deeds.
As Saint Paul famously put it later in this same chapter of Romans, The wages of sin is death (6:23). But death has no power over us if we stay rooted in union with Jesus who leads us into communion with our Heavenly Father in the Holy Spirit. Saint Paul concludes by saying: You too must think of yourselves as dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus. We need to remind ourselves of this reality frequently in our feel-good Christian era – wanting Christ without the Cross (as Bishop Fulton Sheen put it).
How many of those drifting lapsed Catholic souls, who we hopefully are praying and offering penance for daily, bought into that lie of the evil one? Feel good Christianity doesn’t last! Nor does it give one the motivation to continue in the Christian journey on the narrow path to Heaven when facing serious difficulties and sufferings, which are inevitable in this life. We always have to relate our daily life to the Crucified Lord Jesus in order to persevere in the Faith & put things in proper perspective.
Once we get in the habit of relating everything to the Cross of Jesus which we are each called to share in, in a unique way, based on our individual life and vocation, for the good of souls, starting with our own; then we are free to love the way Jesus did in kindness.
The first reading this past weekend showed us the beauty of that way of life. This lady and her husband were kind to the prophet Elisha to the generous point of providing him with a nice room and food anytime he was passing through their area; and as a result, she gets the greatest gift from his prayerful intercession: a longed-for son.
Of course, in the Faith, we shouldn’t do kind deeds especially towards God’s loyal servants like Elisha and other holy people, be it priests or lay people, for an expected earthly reward, but it does happen sometimes, and what a gift it is.
How I personally appreciate all those in the course of my priesthood who have been similarly kind over the years towards me, and I pray daily that God blesses those kind souls with whatever they need in life to help them grow in holiness. One of the most beautiful things in this earthly life is when we encounter souls that are magnanimous and kind rather than stingy, petty, and cold. What a witness to the love and generosity of the Lord being magnanimous is, and how it draws people to the Lord and the Holy Catholic Faith; just as petty meanness by Christians drives people away. And to pray for the grace to be kind, especially if it doesn’t come naturally to our temperament.
Jesus teaches us about the need for total detachment from everything and everyone who is not God. This is a tough teaching of His, and is one of the main reasons, as Jesus has revealed in history to the saints, why so many good souls, but not yet great souls, end up in Purgatory because they are not fully detached from people and things that are not God.
Christian detachment does not mean lack of love. People confuse that oftentimes. Our love must first be for God and then everyone and everything else flows from that. Otherwise, we have a distorted notion of love.
It’s only in a daily life of increased prayer and penance that we become an open vessel for God to pour His love into our hearts to then love other people and things in proper perspective. It’s better to do it now than in Purgatory – the lives of the saints teach us that. And to bring it to prayer: Lord, please help me and show me if I am loving my family and friends and various things in this life more that you.
One way to practically measure if this is occurring is to look at how much time are we spending on these various relationships and other things. And is God and prayer and living our Catholic faith first, or do we spend more time on other relationships and work and activities of various sorts? And when we are doing those other things are we bringing God and our Catholic faith into them in the sense of: that is the overarching vision and guiding force for everything we do in this life.
Obviously, this is a work in progress, but that is where Holy Mass and prayer and regular Confession and acts of kindness help us to get that focus better over time. As Jesus says in regard to this: Whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of my little ones to drink because the little one is a disciple – amen I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.
Yes, God is never outdone in generosity, and so we will receive a reward for the goodness we embrace in Him, but let’s ask the Lord to help us take it to a higher level and to do everything we do here on earth out of true self-giving love for Him and our fellow man, and not to be a mercenary always thinking selfishly: what’s in it for me? 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.
