Tuesday June 27, 2023

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“When Jesus promised he’d never abandon us, he intended to fulfill this through our faith community.”

Good News Reflection for:

Tuesday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time
Memorial of Saint Cyril of Alexandria, bishop and doctor of the Church
June 27, 2023

Today’s Prayer:

Beloved Jesus, give me your light to discover the path that leads me to you. Give me wisdom to neither divert nor distract myself from it. Give me strength not to dismay when loneliness is cruel. May the joy of your Holy Spirit accompany me, until we meet, my Jesus, door to eternal life. Amen.

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Today’s Readings:

Genesis 13:2, 5-18
Ps 15:1-5
Matthew 7:6, 12-14
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/062723.cfm
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/daily-mass-reading-podcast-june-27-2023

The lonely road to the narrow gate

Have you ever felt lonely because of your Christian faith? Do you have enough companions on the road of holiness? When Jesus said (as we see in our Gospel reading today) that the road to heaven is narrow, he had a dozen guys who lived in close community with him, several women friends (often including his mother), and a large contingent of followers who learned enough from him to go out and preach and heal and cast out demons.

But the road to Calvary was going to be mighty lonely.

Holiness is a rough road to travel, not only because we keep tripping over our own tendencies to sin, but also because we meet co-journeyers who choose not to stay the course. We also run into the dogs and swine that Jesus mentioned — people who don’t want to accept the truth about life in Christ nor put full effort into becoming more saintly. They join us on this road but they either attack the faith or they attack us and leave us sitting on the curb weary and wounded.

And while we wait for someone to come by and tend to our wounds, we notice that too few stop to help, too few understand our needs, and too few are healed enough of their own wounds to give us what we need. Did God intend for us to feel so alone? No, because we are not alone!

When Jesus needed more from his friends, who were too few or too sleepy, he went to the Father. We will always feel somewhat lonely here on earth, because the Father’s embrace is not a physical hug, but we never need to feel alone. A habit of deep prayer puts us in touch with the reality that God is with us every step of the way. Jesus is right beside us, holding our hand, kissing our wounds, crying with our hurts, laughing at our jokes, dancing in our joys.

Human companionship is equally important. Jesus spent personal time with those who became especially close to him. Even while he suffered on the cross, he experienced the undying love and loyalty of two: his mother and John. As you hang on your own cross, who is at the foot of it, weeping? If you can’t see someone there, ask Jesus to open your eyes.

When Jesus promised that he’d never abandon us, he intended to fulfill this through his earthly presence, the Body of Christ on earth, which is our faith community. But we want our Johns to be Jesuses. We want our companions on the road to be already perfectly holy. And so we look right past them and miss what God is offering to us through them.

Recall that Jesus often went to dinner parties. Fun fellowship is an important way to get to know others who are on the road to heaven. We won’t find our co-journeyers by sitting alone in our prayer rooms. Time alone with God is necessary, but we’d better be using that time to become better at finding and mingling with the companions he’s providing.

For more on this, use our WordByte, “How to live fully in the Kingdom of God here and now” @ https://wordbytes.org/spiritual-growth/live-fully-in-the-kingdom

© 2023 by Terry A. Modica

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