Monday of the 7th Week of Eastertide
Acts 19:1-8 | Psalm 67(68):2-7 | John 16:29-33
I have told you all this
so that you may find peace in me.
In the world you will have trouble,
but be brave: I have conquered the world. (John 16:33)
Jesus has conquered death. He has returned to the Father, so that the Holy Spirit may be sent to us to inspire and to inflame.
Are we still afraid of being called out as Christians?
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Fr. Cornelius delivered an odd homily yesterday, in which he painted the image of terrorists running rampant through our church during mass. There was some good stuff in it, but that image is all I can remember of it right now.
I’m sure we’d all be terrified to be singled out in such a situation, as violent death would likely visit us shortly thereafter.
But what about in daily life, where the threat of summary execution for our beliefs is pretty low?
When we’re taken to task for something we did in public,
when someone cries out, “Hey! You’re a Christian, right? How can you do something like that?!?!”,
how would we react?
Would we deny our own faith, just like Peter denied Jesus three times?
Would we tell them to mind their own business, as everyone else whose misdeeds are publicly exposed tends to do?
Or would we own up to our faults, and try to make amends?
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Being called out for our faults is right and proper. There should be no hiding, no minimizing, no deflecting; all those “easy outs” would simply encourage us to “push our luck” yet again in future.
But admitting that we sinned is difficult, even when we’re disposed to be honest about it. It would require us to admit to weakness, to acknowledge that we are imperfect, despite all the support we receive from the twin towers of holy scripture and Mother Church.
This is precisely why we should avail ourselves of the Sacrament of Reconciliation as often as we need it. There is nothing quite like admitting our failings to the One who already knows them all, but loves us anyway. The confessional is a safe space, in which we can examine our conscience, and thereby strengthen it in the process.
We enter bent low under the weight of our transgressions, but after we’ve unburdened ourselves, we can reemerge standing tall and Christian once more.
It’s therefore so appropriate that on this fourth day of the Novena to the Holy Spirit, we would ask for the gift of fortitude:
Come, O Blessed Spirit of Fortitude, uphold my soul in time of trouble and adversity, sustain my efforts after holiness, strengthen my weakness, give me courage against all the assaults of my enemies, that I may never be overcome and separated from Thee, my God and greatest Good. Amen.