29th Week, Friday, Oct 24; St Anthony Claret
Romans 7:18-25 / Luke 12:54-59
I desire to do good; But I lack the power to do it.
There's nothing in me that's perfect, and nothing in me that's complete. I'm just a great beginning, from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet." This poem describes the human situation that Paul refers to in today's reading. It explains why we need Jesus to complete us.
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Do we let our weaknesses get us down, or do we accept them and turn to Jesus for healing? "Life with Christ is an endless hope, without him a hopeless end.” Author unknown
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Our shadows are quite interesting when we come to look at it. It has always been with us and yet it is not a reflection of ourselves as what we see in the mirror. Our shadows change in shape, in definition and in intensity, although it is always dark. In a way, we can say that our shadows may be a symbol of our dark side.
There is always a dark sinful side in us, and even as we try to grow in holiness, it seems that we have to struggle more with our sinfulness. As it is, the brighter the light, the darker the shadows will be.
In the 1st reading, St. Paul shared with us this experience of the spiritual struggle within him. After saying that he did the wrong things that he didn't intend to, he ended the sharing by saying in that wretched state of his, the only one who could come to his rescue was Jesus Christ our Lord.
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St Paul describes the experience of converts. They realize that before their conversion, notwithstanding their good will, they were incapable of following their conscience or the Law of Moses. But now that they know Christ, they can win their struggles against the evil within them. We experience a similar struggle going on in us. We are torn beings, with the enemy within us, capable of the best and the worst. But on account of Christ, even the worst in us can also be turned into the best.
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Jesus speaks of how people predicted the weather by clouds in the sky or by the blowing of the wind. If you know how to interpret these events of nature, he says, then you should be able to interpret the signs of the times too! Interpretation demands attention, and attention demands action. Pope St John Paul II had read the signs of the times. He spoke against increasing cases of abortion and euthanasia. In his encyclical Evangelium Vitae he warned of the culture of death that is becoming rampant in the world. He strongly opposed ‘a civilization of affluence and pleasure that lives as though sin did not exist, and as if God did not exist.’ Am I reading correctly the signs of the times?
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In its introduction, the Vatican II Constitution on the Church in the Modern World says: “The Church must continually examine the signs of the times and interpret them in the light of the gospel. Thus, she will be able to answer the questions that people are always asking about the meaning of this life and of the next and about the relation of this life and of the next and about the relation of one to the other, in a way adapted to each question.” By signs of the times, we mean currents of thought and attitudes behind events, aspirations, and the like. Take the hippies, the Jesus movement, Pentecostalism, women’s lib, the hunger for liberation, the rebellion of many of the young against consumerism and hypocrisy. Can we discover points of contact and of openness to the values of the gospel?
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Prayer
Lord our God, when today’s world hungers for justice, truth and spiritual values, perhaps disguised and distorted in a form hard to recognize, open our eyes and give us your Spirit of wisdom and discernment. May we thus learn to understand this world, to feel at home in it, and to discover the stepping-stones that could lead us all to you through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
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Saint Anthony Mary Claret
Feast Day October 24
The well-liked Spanish priest Anthony Claret was the fifth of eleven children. His family was poor but hard working. Weaving was a family trade. Anthony’s earliest memories of home were the family’s praying the rosary and going to church. From this environment grew his deep love and devotion to Jesus and Mary.
By age twenty-one Anthony had been educated and was in much demand for his skill as a weaver. While suffering because of poor health, Anthony imagined himself as a Carthusian monk. He went to the bishop for advice. The bishop suggested that he first go to the diocesan seminary and then, if he wished, leave and become a monk. Anthony followed this advice and enjoyed seminary life.
Anthony was assigned as archbishop of Cuba. Not having had an archbishop for fourteen years, the island was in need of renewal. Anthony reorganized the seminary training, preached in all the churches, heard confessions, and guided people to Christ. He worked for updated farm methods and credit unions. He wanted the people to own their own farms, knowing that this would improve family life. He made enemies by teaching black slaves. Fifteen times people tried to assassinate him.
After eight years, Anthony was called to Spain to be Queen Isabella II’s confessor. He obeyed unhappily. He and the queen agreed that he would not live at the palace but come only to hear her confession and instruct her children. This freed him to open a religious publishing house and write more than two hundred books and pamphlets.
In 1886 a revolution took place, and those associated with the court fled to Rome where Vatican Council I was in session. There he defended the infallibility of the pope. Then he returned to a Cistercian monastery in France where he stayed in solitude until his death.
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Very often when we want to settle a problem quickly, we tend to look for compromising solutions or the easy way out. So in order to handle a problematic child, we tend to give things and money instead of spending time with the child and trying to understand the real needs of the child. And when we see something not right being done, we tend to look away and pretend not to see. We tend to play-safe and not to get involved, as long as it does not concern us. Even if it does concern us, we will want to protect ourselves first. But that was not what Jesus did. Jesus knew what His Father wanted Him to do and say, and He was committed to His mission. Jesus did not want to have conflicts. In fact, he came to gather people into the peace of God's kingdom. But when conflicts and oppositions came, He refused to compromise. For Jesus, there are no play-safe and guarded options or messages. He was on fire for love and truth, for righteousness and justice. If we are to follow Jesus, then we too must be prepared for conflicts and oppositions whenever they arise. Yet the first conflict and opposition will come from within ourselves. We have to be prepared to go through the fire that Jesus brings so that we will burn away the option of compromising solutions and the easy way out. Only then will we understand the freedom and peace of living in the truth.
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Let us Pray: Lord our God, you have set us free in Christ, free from our selfishness, free from shame and fear, free for life and service. God, accept our thanks for this free gift. Give us the strength, day after day, to grow in this liberty and to help our little or large world to attain the same freedom from sin and its consequences: from injustice, suffering, and oppression. One day may we be completely free in your eternal home, through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen
