from Mt. Sinai commented to a brother monk, “So Martha is necessary to Mary, for because of Martha is Mary praised.”66 Thus it is important to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn. It is also important to prepare food. It is important to pray. But it is equally important to engage in the work of justice.
Now it is one thing to say that some Christians have the gift to pray and meditate, while others have the gift to work and serve. But to live the Christian life in an integrated way all of us are called to both pray and serve.
Reflection
We pray in order to be with God. We pray to be nurtured. We pray to hear God’s voice. We pray in order to serve. And in the very midst of our serving we also pray.
James 1:13–15
March 8
Temptation
Temptation comes to all of us. Most often it comes in
unexpected ways. Its movement is towards death rather than life. But good can come out of it, for grace can follow close on the heels of every temptation.
To be tempted presupposes there is a God from whom one can
deviate. And it presupposes one can compromise one’s own values. It also assumes the Christian has an enemy who is the great Tempter and this personage has some power and influence.
But what is clear from the biblical story is that the great Tempter has limited power and the Christian is safe in the sheltering presence of Christ. Thus, we need not be afraid. But we do need to be aware and vigilant.
The early church father Origen however, believed that the
movement of temptation is not wholly negative. Good can come out of it. He writes, “Temptations . . . serve the purpose of showing us who we really are.”67
Since we are usually tempted in the area of our own foolishness, pride, vulnerability, or weakness, temptation has a way of drawing our attention to those areas of our lives where we are blind or out of kilter. Thus temptation is a wake-up call, inviting us to attentiveness in those areas of our lives where we take things for granted and where problems exist. Temptation can remind us, therefore, what we need to change to and become.
Reflection
In the hands of the enemy of our soul, temptation is the blunt instrument of death. In the purposes of God, it is a gentle blessing unto life.
2 Corinthians 5:18–19
March 9
All of God in the Grace of Salvation
While we tend to speak of God the Father as the Creator, God the Son as the Savior, and the Holy Spirit as the Sanctifier, in the great mutuality of the community of God each of the persons of the Trinity is involved in the work of the other.
In the references in Scripture to worship, baptism, and benediction, we see the beginnings of the later church’s formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity. Clearly, here are the foundational references to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
This doctrine was never meant to be an arid formulation of mystery. Instead, it was meant to safeguard the divinity of each of the “persons” in the Godhead and to highlight the great love, mutuality, and cooperation between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Julian of Norwich highlights this theme of cooperation. She writes, “The whole Trinity was involved in the passion of Christ, giving us an abundance of virtue and grace by him, though only the maiden’s Son suffered.”68
This mutuality and cooperation, without blurring distinctions, says much about the wonderful nature of God. The members of the Trinity are wholly there for each other. What a picture of unity and diversity.
This mirrors what could be possible amongst us. The church as icon of the Trinity means a church in communion with people being there for each other in love and service. And so should our world be. Communities of cooperation and love, rather than communities and societies based on exclusion and distrust, could swim into view.
Thought
Maybe the Trinity can point us to a whole new world.
Isaiah 55:6–7
March 10
The Seeking Heart
That our hearts are restless is stating the obvious. That
restlessness leads to seeking is a basic truism. That we often don’t know what we are looking for is the human tragedy.
The human quest for meaning and fulfillment is fundamental to the
human condition. But what is worth longing for and seeking after is
mainly sculpted by the dominant values of one’s society and culture.
Society has a good way of inculcating us into the politics of much-having.
But in the Western world we are also influenced in the quest for self-fulfillment shaped by individualism and the myth of the autonomous self. Thus the movement of our being is towards an isolating inwardness.
The ancient writer St. Anselm suggests that such a quest is doomed to failure. He writes, “I sought for peace within myself, and in the depths of my heart I found trouble and sorrow.”69
He seems to suggest that the inward journey in and of itself will not renew us. We will only find our dark side and our failures. We will only find a greater emptiness.
Instead, we need to find the Other. The welcoming Other. The Great Other who surprisingly does not overwhelm and does not condemn us, but welcomes us to a healing homecoming.
Self-redemption is an illusion. It is only more of the same. God’s
redemption renews us at the very core of our being.
Thought
Do seek. But don’t seek the self. Seek the Loving Other.
2 Timothy 1:13–14
March 11
A Spiritual Companion
Living the Christian life is a calling each individual person must embrace and outwork. But such a life is not a solo
journey. There should be companions on the journey, guides along the way, mentors to encourage us.
The biblical story is clear. We need no one else except Christ to bring us to salvation. But we do need others to sustain us in our fidelity to the gospel and to encourage us in our growth towards wholeness and maturity. And we do need others in the joy of witness and service.
The early church father St. Basil talks about the importance of finding a person “who may serve you as a very sure guide in the work of leading a holy life.” He goes on to say that such a person must know “the straight road to God.”70
To be part of the community
