they are to live in the present, anticipating and praying and waiting for what is yet to come.
Thought
To be out of step with the world’s agenda is not the place of security. It is a place of insecurity. But it is a step towards a new world.
Ephesians 4:25–28
March 16
Works and Virtues
One cannot truly be great if one’s life is based on pride. One cannot truly be generous if generosity is based on self-
aggrandizement. One cannot truly be loving if love is some form of manipulation.
There are the things we say and there is the way we truly are. There are the things we do and at the back of those lie the values and motivations that move us.
This highlights that we are complex creatures. It also recognizes that what moves us is as important, if not more important, than what we say or do.
The desert father Abbot Agatho once said, “If an angry man were to raise the dead, because of his anger he would not please God.”75 Such a person would, of course, please others. They would think he was a saint. They would think he was like Jesus and a man of power and virtue. But there is more to the story of a person than simply his or her achievements or abilities, for God looks at the heart.
Thus what moves us is of great importance. Are we motivated by love, even if we are not perfect? Are we moved to bless the other person, even though not everything we say or do is helpful? Are we energized to follow Jesus, even if there are detours in the road?
The mark of a person of maturity, wisdom, and integrity is that what he or she seeks to do harmonizes with one’s deepest intentions to live to the glory of God and the well-being of others.
Reflection
When the movement of head, heart, and hand are one, a person is truly integrated.
Psalm 139:1–3
March 17
A Deeper Knowing
We are often only too aware that we really don’t understand ourselves and we really don’t know what it is we are hoping or looking for.
There is a basic theme in the biblical story that, if understood well, is a source of great joy and comfort. Simply put, the theme is that the God who has created us, redeems us in Christ, and beautifies us through the Spirit, is the God who knows us better than we know ourselves.
St. Anselm knew this well. He writes in a prayer for enemies, “Hear me always with your favor, not according as my heart wills or as my mouth asks, but as you know and will that I ought to wish and ask.”76 In other words, this father of scholasticism and Archbishop of Canterbury in the eleventh century asks that God will know him beyond his own praying and thinking. And so it is. Better to be known well by another and so come to greater self-knowledge.
This is an invitation to self-knowledge and great humility. This means God knows better what I need than what I ask for. God knows more clearly the direction for my life than the choices I make. And God knows more fully what motivates me than my own self-awareness.
As a consequence, I should feel more comfortable in entrusting myself to God rather than to my own abilities. This is truly living God’s lordship in our lives.
Thought
To be fully known and yet to be greatly loved is a blessing indeed! It is the great surprise that can nurture us.
John 6:35
March 18
The Living Bread
The Christian life is one of discipleship, obedience, and
service. It is also a life of being sustained and nurtured. And in the most unlikely places and ways, God provides bread and wine for the often uneven journey of faith.
We are nurtured by God’s providential care through the gifts of creation. These bounteous gifts should be shared equally by all.
We are also invited to share fully in the gift of God’s salvation in Christ. He is the true life for the world. He is the living bread. In Christ we find life’s joy, meaning, and purpose.
But we all are also invited to open our lives to the renewing,
empowering, and life-giving action of the Holy Spirit, who works
tirelessly and mysteriously to sustain our lives, to beautify us, and to gift and empower us for meaningful service.
And there are many other ways God seeks to nurture us: in the gift of family, the blessing of friends, and the care of the faith
community. Even neighbors and colleagues can be, and often are, a source of encouragement for us. Thus God can use anyone to be a blessing to us. In the Ambrosian Acclamations we read, “O bread eternal, you feed the hunger of your people in desert places.”77 This is a hunger for God, a
hunger for wholeness, a hunger for relationship, a hunger for knowledge, and a hunger for justice. And God can meet this hunger in surprising ways.
Reflection
What we hunger for is an indication of what we want to live for. The Living Bread feeds our hunger.
1 Timothy 2:1–3
March 19
Concerned for All
Christianity is sometimes cast as a world-denying religion with little relevance for the issues of our time. The fact that Christians are called to pray for government and for those in authority already suggests an engagement with society that could have great consequences.
One of the great martyrs of the post-apostolic church, Polycarp, called Christians to pray for all. He writes, “Pray for all the saints. Pray also for kings and magistrates and rulers, and for those who persecute and hate you, and for the enemies of the cross, so that your fruit may be evident among all people.”78
Thus, as an absolute minority in the hostile world at that time,
Christians were challenged not simply to be concerned about themselves and their heavenly reward. They were called to pray for the very people who sought to do them harm. Their suffering was to be the seed for a new world.
What is particularly noticeable about Polycarp’s call to prayer was that he believed this would have an effect. He believed good fruit would come from the suffering community that was willing to forgive and pray for their very tormentors.
This poses a significant challenge for us in the contemporary world where so often we no longer see God at work, where we doubt the efficacy of prayer and where we tend to see the political realm as self-contained and therefore beyond the reach of our prayers. Polycarp’s vision calls us to be a faithful and intercessory people.
Thought
A Christian
