Pastor's Spiritual Reflections |
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By Fr. Leo Schneider (6/1/2008)Dear People of Holy Name, “For we consider that a person is justified by faith apart
from works of the law.” The preaching of Paul comes as a liberating grace in our own day, just as it did to the members of the early church. Paul’s audiences were Jewish people whose religion proscribed rules and regulations for every aspect of life. What they ate, when they ate, where they ate, how they dressed, with whom they could associate, etc. were all dictated by their religion which formed the heart of their culture. Their mindset was to follow all the rules so God would be happy with them and bless them. Their religion both bound them together and separated them from everyone else. It was in this milieu that Jesus was reared and out of which he forged his own new spirituality, that at times built on the old and at others challenged it immensely. Jesus knew a legalistic faith wasn’t going to change the world or improve the lives of the living. An eye for an eye view of the world keeps divisions in place and allows vengeance to be a currency in relationships. Jesus called his fellow Jews to embrace a new way of life based in the gift of the Spirit, exemplified in his own words and actions. Jesus forgave those who sinned against him, not to earn his way to heaven, but to invite us to a new way of thinking and acting that allows our relationships to grow. Without Jesus’ forgiveness we would live in fear of God. Without forgiveness we would find ourselves alienated and alone, both by our actions and the actions of others. But to trust in forgiveness and the love it expresses opens new doors for all of us. In Jesus’ forgiveness the door has been forever opened between us and God. There is no room for fear; we simply need to believe in God’s love for us. The same is true in our relationships with one another. We need to trust in others as we would want them to trust in us, believing in the power of love to transform our pain into joy. This I believe is the real challenge of the discipleship we claim in Christ. If we never forgave each other, we would all be separated from each other living in anger and shame. Forgiving acknowledges our humanness, while at the same time opening the way for change and growth. If someone challenges me on something I have done, it allows me to respond to them and grow in my understanding of them; deepening the love we share. The same is true when we challenge another on how they have treated us. As long as we approach them out of love and not vengeance, a deeper relationship can emerge from our pain. Often we mask our hurt with anger and don’t do the tough work of dealing with our pain, by letting people know how we feel. In our culture we quickly move to shame. Never feeling good enough, we begin to think our feelings aren’t valid and that others would think we were odd in what we think and feel. We become defensive, which becomes an expression of the lack of trust and the power of God’s spirit of love to make a difference in our relationships with other people. We don’t have to earn God’s love or the love of other people. We need to learn to trust in that love and believe that it can make a powerful difference in our lives through the relationships we share with all people. If Jesus wanted anything for us it would be to share his life fully and know the fullness of joy that comes from such intimacy. This is where discipleship leads us in our relationships with all peoples. God’s love unites us and makes us one. There is no us and them, it is just we the people of the universe, called to share in the fullness of life God holds out to each of us. No fear and shame here, only trust, hope and love. May the Lord bless us in all our relationships that we may know the fullness of love he has called us to share with one another. In Christ’s peace, Fr. Leo |