Unworthily Blessed

“Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe.” –Saint Augustine

We live in an age when credibility of witness is difficult to establish. We worry about sources, we worry about the thinking behind any position established, we worry. Additionally, with access to the internet, anyone can claim to be an expert, which makes expert testimony that has been vetted, all the more necessary. If the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church, then the bloodless response of the non-martyrs of this age for the faith, in both word and deed, the faithless witness of hidden lives and papered over sins is showing why we have fewer people in the pews.

Passing on the faith to those who come after us, must come from our own presenting an authentic witness to what we know to be true, beyond what can be proven. We must walk the walk, and the walk always leads all the way to the foot of the cross if we’re serious about being disciples.

“Faith without works is dead.” –Saint Jerome.

We must live in a way that testifies to the integrity of our faith, without our having to explain, this is how we live because we believe it. Our love testifies in a way nothing else will. We cannot be people who preach Christ Crucified and Risen if we do not live our lives in a way that shows we do not fear the cross, and live in hope and trembling, that our lives might please God in all things.

It means we need to stop viewing ourselves as needing to win, or others needing to lose. It means we need to take off the political glasses that prevent us from loving our neighbors as ourselves because they don’t think as we do. It means we must sublimate ourselves and be more like the man at the back of the temple than the Pharisee.

It’s hard in this day and age, to know what to do so as to remain faithful, and yet be a faithful lover of those you miss at the Eucharist table. The best way, is to remember, on your own, you will catch nothing. You will be on the shore, mending your nets, with which you have labored all night to no effect.nnDrop your nets, follow Christ, and you will find a catch near bursting, and a heart equally so.

So love those with whom you disagree with everything you have, and if you feel there is a limit on your love, ask God to fill in you, what is lacking, to show you how to love that person well. Remember that Jesus dined with sinners because Jesus feeds us Himself. We are not worthy, we are only loved. We are likewise to go love, because we have been unworthily blessed.