Back-to-school month is winding up. Educators have a tremendous responsibility to develop in young people skills of mind and habits of heart so that they can live a life of integrity. Albert Einstein summarized the challenge, saying this: "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."
Each student has different "doors" through which learning the basics can be accomplished. Yes, multiple approaches, like different styles and parables in scripture, can "speak" to someone and encourage growth in their own way: true to themselves, true to God.
What does the word of God bring to us today? Well over 3,000 years ago, Moses pleads with the Hebrews to be faithful to their promises. Yes, God promises blessings if they keep God’s laws, i. e., worship God and treat their fellow human beings fairly. This challenges us to be faithful to our promises.
Then, the Letter of James says boldly that there shouldn’t be a discrepancy between faith and action. In other words, do we walk the talk.
The Gospel according to Mark holds a similar theme. Jesus distinguishes between external behaviors and internal attitudes.
The scribes and Pharisees are hypocrites, Jesus says. The word “hypocrite” basically means an actor, who says one thing but lives differently. Hypocrites pay lip service to God but internally they’re thinking immorally, e. g., greedy, dishonest, envious.
Jesus asks us: are we saying one thing and doing the opposite? Do we try to live a life of integrity?
The biblical passages indicate that human beings are a bundle of contradictions. Who really are we?
Russian author Leo Tolstoy discovered that many ordinary people were able to answer this by virtue of their faith in God. They had a relationship with God through Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit. That friendship with God sustained them. Jesus was indeed their way, their truth and their life.
Daniel Levinson’s book “The Seasons of a
Man’s Life” is about the cycle of human development: from young adulthood,
through middle years, to old age. As we go through this, we will face crises of
one kind or another. “Crisis” has a twofold meaning: it can be a disaster or an opportunity.
We constantly let go of our past so we can
move forward. We of course believe we’re moving toward a life with God forever:
that's our true destiny. We have to
let go of friends, loved ones, perhaps health or job. Ultimately we have to let
go of our own earthly life. We trust in God’s unconditional love: that He will
catch us in our final leap of faith into the darkness of death and bear us away
within himself.
The Catholic answer to the question “why are we here?” acknowledges the brevity of human life, and also our freedom to choose good over evil, right over wrong. Hence each of us is responsible for the way we live. Tragically, some people choose evil. The Book of Genesis highlights this brokenness. The Catholic tradition calls this “original sin.”
Human beings cry out for freedom, peace, justice and truth. But they cry out even louder for healing, for redemption, for salvation! Who can heal us, save us? Some have sought human solutions: in the world of things, in demogogues, in “isms” of one kind or another.
The Catholic tradition looks to an awesome and overwhelming power beyond ourselves -- God -- who is not indifferent to our human situation. This compassionate God became flesh in Jesus and is alive by the power of the Spirit in our midst today—alive in the community of disciples we call the Church; and alive especially in the sacramental signs.
We possess within our fragile selves the incredible treasure of faith in God. But each of us must continue to struggle to do right.
The Letter of James today encourages us, “keep oneself unstained by the world.” So that the God who transformed the earthly Jesus into a new heavenly reality can also transform us.
The great 16th century Carmelite reformer, Teresa of Avila, got it right, “Let nothing upset you, Let nothing startle you, all things pass; ….. Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone is enough.”
