Voice of Belonging
The prefect Rusticus said: “Do you have an idea that you will go up to heaven to receive some suitable rewards?”
“It is not an idea that I have; it is something I know well and hold to be most certain.”
-St. Justin Martyr
You may have heard before that we are “in this world” but not “of the world.” Even Jesus told His disciples this that just as He does not belong to the world, so neither do they or we. But the fact is that our entire earthly lives are spent physically in this world. How can we live in the world without becoming a part of it? How do we know which voices lead us to God and which leads to the world?
As Christians we need to keep our eyes on the Lord and on heaven and do our best to distinguish the call of God from the call of the enemy. The call of God may sometimes challenge us to step outside of our comfort zone and even to embrace pain and suffering. The call of the enemy will convince us that we deserve better and that we should pursue whatever gives us happiness and pleasure, even if it means straying away from what is good and holy.
In today’s first reading, we hear about Tobit and his wife. He wouldn’t believe his wife when she told him that that goat was given to her as a bonus for her work. Tobit grew angry because he thought it was stolen and wouldn’t believe her. The voice of the world can do something similar: scatter seeds that question our faith and the goodness and fidelity of God. Jesus famously said “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” (Mk. 12:17). We must live in this world while knowing that we belong to God. St. Justin Martyr did just that. He wrote about the faith, defending it against the pagans but that led to his death. He died in the world but he returned to whom he belonged. In the eyes of the Romans, Justin and Christianity were defeated and put to death, but in truth, Justin rose victorious. May we always listen to the voice of the One to whom we belong.
