5th Sunday after Easter 17.5.20 Doers of the word
We must be doers of the word, not hearers only.
It is so much easier to talk about our faith than to put it
into practice.
It is easy to identify the needs: we should be more
charitable, more enthusiastic, more generous etc
Bringing these things into actual reality is another matter.
It does help, however, to say the right things insofar as it
makes it more likely the actions will follow.
We get it right at least some of the time.
And to say these things has the value also of instruction.
We can at least be clear on what we ought to do.
We can grow in our understanding of the word of God. It will
take root in us and bear fruit.
As this happens the gap between theory and practice will
close.
We come to love His commands because we see their essential
goodness (Ps 118 [119]:27)
This will help overcome the charge of hypocrisy, which is so
often applied to us, who profess the faith. They say we do not practise what we
preach, and we know that is true in many cases. We want to deprive them of that
accusation by putting words into action.
In the meantime we would hasten to tell anyone that they
should not judge the Church by the
behaviour of its members, as we fall far short of sainthood.
Nevertheless they will so judge. They should join the Church
anyway, regardless of the quality of other disciples. This follows when we
consider that each disciple is in direct relationship with Our Lord, and the
call is to follow Him, not each other.
Whether we are existing disciples or prospective new ones,
we all have the obligation and the opportunity to live in the life of Christ,
to receive His grace and be motivated and guided by Him.
God's call is universal, and so is His mercy.
There is much human fault in the Church, but there is also
the divinity of Christ, the perfect holiness of Mary and the full power of
angels and saints combined.
The Church is an elite body to join, yet her members do not
think themselves superior.
We admit the fault of our human dimension, and we apply
ourselves to repairing it, always with the help of grace.
This will make the Church more attractive for others to join;
and that is a major point, but still not the most important.
What is most important is that we give glory to God,
something much neglected, yet which has always been our primary obligation.
We do not try to impress others for our own sake, but to win
them to the love of God, so that they will live holy lives; and so it spreads,
and the whole world benefits.
The Church has people coming and going, committing and
leaving – all at the same time.
We need them to talk to each other. Why are you joining; why
are you leaving?
We need to reach a point where it is only one-way traffic;
where people come but do not leave.
If we base our lives on what most people do, Heaven help us!
We follow Christ not other people. If we
all take direction from Him, yes we will end up doing the same as each other,
but by that stage it will be only the right things.
Just as an individual can confess the same sins many times, still
managing to advance in holiness, so can the Church make progress – becoming the
perfect Bride (Rev 21,2).
Old sins give way to new holiness, as the divine perfects what
is human.
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