In the second reading of today, St Paul is writing to believers like us who lived at Philippi, a place in Greece. He gives us, as believers in Jesus Christ, a way how to remain courageous and steadfast in the midst of turmoil. While talking about his difficulties he says “I can do everything in Him (in Jesus) who gives me strength”. Paul had his fair share of problems in his life as a disciple of Jesus. He was beaten up physically. He suffered hunger and thirst. There were times when he did not have any protection against the cold or hot weather. People gossiped about him while he was also betrayed by those whom he considered to be his friends. He was shipwrecked three times and he had the constant worries of how the different Christian communities that he founded in many places were going (2 Cor 11:23-33). Yet he never gave up. He did not back off from his responsibilities because he was convinced that with Jesus Christ living in him there is nothing that he could not face and overcome.
This is a great lesson for us. All of us go through difficult times and situations. All of us as human beings find ourselves surrounded at times by fear and anxiety. This is part and parcel of life. The secret is how to deal with these situations as people who believe that Jesus Christ our God is alive in us.
The Gospel of today describes one way in which many of us at times handle uncertain situations. How is it possible to refuse attending a marriage of an important person if you are invited? People would jump at such an opportunity. Some people would make sure that all their friends and neighbours would know about this special favour. At the same time there would be people who would find the invitation good as it is, very uncomfortable. What am I going to wear? What if I find myself on a table where I would not know the others present? How am I going to behave myself? So many questions. Where there is uncertainty, where there is a lack of clarity we start to find excuses for not facing what we need to face.
Very often we know that there is a situation that we have to deal with. It has been with us for quite a while and because of our fears and uncertainty we pretend that it does not exist anymore because this situation occurred so many years ago. We try to find so many excuses and even reasons for not going through what we need to get through. Of course nothing will be solved like this because that situation will continue to follow us till we make the decision to face it.
As Christians, as believers in Jesus we need to remember something very important. I have often asked “What is Jesus doing at the moment?” We believe that He is alive, but what is he doing? The author of the letter to the Hebrews says this “It follows then the power to save those who come to God through Him is absolute, since he lives for ever to intercede for them” (Heb 7:25). In plain English, we are told that at this very moment Jesus is praying for you and for me as we continue our life journey. This is where we get the strength to carry on in the midst of difficult situations. This is the reason why Paul can say that “I can do everything in Jesus who gives me strength”.
This means that when we are in difficulties, we do what we can to the best of our ability to solve the problem knowing at the same time that we are not alone. Jesus Christ is praying for us at that very moment. There are situations when we can see an answer for our problems. There are however, often situations when in spite of everything that we can do, the answer to what we are going through is beyond our control. Our duty is to do what can be done to the best of our ability and then we need to trust in God to see us through to a solution that at the moment is beyond our radar screen. We are called, to ultimately trust that God who has promised to protect us will be faithful to His promises.
Last Friday I attended a Graduation ceremony. I was talking to the parents of the young men and women who were graduating. One mum told me that her daughter has a part of her brain missing. Yet there she was mixing with her other friends, being accepted and feeling confident to continue her studies next year in a tertiary institution. She was given an opportunity to say something to the assembled guests. She did so, slowly at times needing to pause. Yet she had enough courage and confidence to believe in herself and in the God living in her. She was graduating after three years of being part of a Catholic based program of formation. With God, nothing is impossible.
On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King delivered his famous speech in Washington D.C. On the most memorable lines of that speech is, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character”. Martin Luther King, suffered may years of humiliation, gossip, threats and he was ultimately shot because of his stand for equality for the Afro-American people in his country. Yet he never gave up. He ended his famous speech with the words, “Free at last, Free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last”. His death did not end his dream and his fight. With trust in God whatever we do for what is right and what is just will eventually bear fruit. Today another Afro-American, Barack Obama is on the verge of becoming President of the United States. Trust in God.
Let us never sell ourselves short. Let us never put ourselves down. Like Mary our Blessed Mother we need to keep saying “I do not understand everything. But I know one thing for sure. God is with me. I do what I can to the best of my ability and then I put my trust in this God who is alive within me to see me through what I need to go through”.
God Bless
