I have one story. A child greeted his great uncle at the dining table. “Uncle Joey, I’m so happy to see you. Now daddy will do the trick he promised.” The uncle asked “What trick?” The boy replied: “Daddy told mommy he would climb the walls if you came for supper.” Yes, be careful: youngsters tell it as they hear it.
So do scripture writers. The word of God brings us the wisdom literature of ancient Israel, the book of Sirach, written probably in the second century before Jesus. The book is about the art of living well in the best sense. Hard work, honesty, integrity, compassion, responsibility, courage, faith in God are the true measure of one’s character.
The author says God has no favorites, and goes on to tell us that God definitely hears our prayers, especially those with no one to advocate for them.
But does He? Does God hear the prayers of families caught up in senseless violence. Does God hear our own prayers, when we pray for a specific need and sense no response. And yet, in the midst of God’s apparent silence, our faith challenges us to trust ever more deeply in God’s unconditional love for us. In fact, God is closer to us than we are to ourselves.
In the Gospel, the Pharisee fasted; he paid tithes; he kept the law. He thought his list of good works was sufficient. But he was ego-centered. EGO stands for “easing God out.”
But the tax collector recognized his own dependency upon God. Tax collectors were generally judged by Jews as traitors and detested by Romans for pocketing money that could have been theirs. But the prayer of the tax collector was God-centered. He knew he was less than perfect. He prayed for God's mercy. A model of prayer for us, says Jesus.
Today I would like us to reflect on Paul's letter to Timothy. Paul uses the imagery of sports, saying, “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race.”
Paul, we know, was a Pharisee. Well educated in Judaism and Greco-Roman philosophy, he had been a rabid persecutor of Christians. But Paul was suddenly blinded by a light from heaven on his way to Damascus. That awesome visionary experience of the risen Christ turned Paul’s life upside down. He became God’s chosen instrument to the non-Jews, one of the greatest evangelizers in Christianity. Paul was captivated by the most amazing event in the history of civilizations: Jesus Christ is gloriously alive.
Often controversial but always self-confident, Paul lived a purposeful life. This religious genius established Christian faith communities throughout the eastern Mediterranean, authored letters that shaped the history of Christian thought, and eventually was beheaded by order of the Emperor Nero. But what was the secret to his purpose-driven life?
I like to think Paul, well versed in philosophy, had a keen insight into what makes human beings tick. Everyone yearns for happiness. We may do things that we think will make us happy, only to discover that they sometimes leave us miserable. We confuse pleasure with happiness.
Etched into Paul’s vision for human beings were Jesus's words: “I have come so that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” For Paul, discipline leads to the fullness of life. Think about it. When we eat well, exercise often, and sleep regularly, we feel more fully alive physically. When we love, prioritize our significant relationships, give of ourselves to help others, we feel alive emotionally. When we study achievements and marvels of the human spirit in various cultures, our world expands, and we feel alive intellectually. And when we take a few moments each day to speak humbly before God in prayer, we experience more fully the transcendent spiritual dimension of our lives.
Yes, discipline frees us to attain our ultimate purpose: eternal life with God. Freedom is not the ability to do whatever we want but is the strength of character to do what is good, true, noble, and right. Freedom is indeed a prerequisite for love.
Paul grasped this and preached that Christ came to reconcile us with the Father. In doing so, Christ satisfies the craving for happiness that preoccupies our human hearts. It is ultimately a yearning for friendship and intimacy and relationship with our all-good Creator. Christ, for Paul, is indeed “the way, the truth, and the life.”
Despite obstacles, Paul stayed the course, preaching the Gospel with his life. He urges us to do likewise. Any good that we can do, let us do so today.
