A Higher Calling

“Jesus said to his disciples:
‘I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that
of the scribes and Pharisees,
you will not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.’”

Mt. 5:20

Have you ever been in a situation where you said to yourself, “Well so and so does it too” or “If it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for me.” In other words, how often have we found ourselves being content with mediocrity and the status quo? As Christians we are told that just following the letter of the law is not enough. It is not enough to just not hate our enemies, we must love them. As Christians we are called to a higher calling.

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus challenges the disciples to think outside the box, to shift their gaze from the mundane to the transcendent, and to go the extra mile and do the unexpected. It is not enough to not kill anyone, for even if one were to be angry at one’s brother to call him a fool “will be liable to fiery Gehenna” (Mt. 5:22). Sounds pretty extreme, doesn’t it? Does Jesus really mean if we are angry with our friend we will go to hell? The short answer is “Yes.” It is possible. If we remain angry in our hearts, and refuse to forgive and reconcile, we may go down a path that will lead to great sin. Jesus was trying to get to the level of the heart, telling us that simply following the law is not enough, is our heart in it? Where is our heart? If we are being honest, we have all sometimes said one thing but then feel something else. Maybe we appeared friendly but then inside we were secretly passing judgment on the other. Where is our heart?

Brothers and sisters, as followers of Christ, who is love itself, we have been tasked with a higher calling. We have been called to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. Is there someone who has hurt us and we have yet to forgive them. Let us ask the Father for the grace to live out this higher calling. This higher calling is a supernatural calling, so without supernatural means we will not be able to live it out. Fortunately for us, in Christ we have been baptized into His very life and have been infused with the supernatural virtues, giving us what we need to live out this most supernatural calling.

The True God

There are people or organizations out there that claim they can help you find fulfillment in your lives and sometimes in ways that seem interesting. Some believe in the power of crystals, others in horoscopes and astrology, and still others fortune tellers and psychics. As Christians we know that all those forms of “divinization” is not good, and sometimes that can even unleash evil spirits. But why do people turn to those things? Maybe they want concrete answers or certainty or assurance that things will go the way they would like them to. At the core of it all is a level of control over one’s life. When we turn to those things to seek answers and certainty we are turning to them as gods, but we know there is only One, True God.

Brothers and sisters, when we run into problems in life or are faced with difficult situations, to where or whom do we turn? Do we seek to solve things with our own hands or seek the help of other “higher powers?” It can be very easy for us to try to take matters in our own hands and trying to solve things with our own power, but sooner or later we will come to realize that we really cannot do it on our own. That is why we are part of the Mystical Body of Christ with Christ as Our Head. We must turn to Our Lord when problems arise and seek the help of our brothers and sisters who will encourage us and affirm us in the faith. The proverbial saying is true “A problem shared is a problem halved.” But it has its roots in the Scriptures: “Bear one another’s burden, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). As Christians we are called to bear one another’s burdens, to support one another along this journey of faith and pilgrimage to our heavenly home.

Too many of our brothers and sisters have turned to false goods, believing that material things and other spirits can help them achieve their ultimate destiny. It is our responsibility to remind them that there is only One God, the God who is Our Father, the One who has created us and has loved us from all eternity, and that He alone can give us the joy, hope, and peace that we so desire. Is there someone close to us who is hurting or who has turned to false gods? Let us pray for them first and then approach them with love, reminding them of the great love in, with, and for which they have been created.

God Will Provide

“For the LORD, the God of Israel, says,
‘The jar of flour shall not go empty,
nor the jug of oil run dry,
until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’”

1 Kings 17:14

How often when we are in the middle of a a difficult situation that causes us worry and anxiety do people say to us, sometimes even automatically, “God will provide.” Perhaps we even say it to others ourselves. “I am a single mother of three and I just got fired from my job… Oh, God will provide…” “I am being evicted from my apartment by the end of the week because I am no longer able to afford the rent… Don’t worry, God will provide.” “I’ve lost all sense of my life and I am not sure what to do with my life, and I have no job, no income… Surely, God will provide.” God does indeed provide. He sends us forth.

There is a priest at one of my local churches who in every homily (or almost every homily) brings in the social dimension of our faith. He would always say we can’t just say we will pray for you and walk away. How will we help those who come to us for help? Saying “God bless you” will not help their immediate needs. Just like with students, if they do not have the basic necessities of life, how can we expect them to study and perform well in school? If they are hungry, thirsty, troubled, living in anxiety, how is it possible for them to live, let alone thrive? In the same way, brothers and sisters, when someone comes to us expressing a need, yes, we should pray for and with them, but we should also do something with and for them. Do they need clothes? Do they need a warm meal? Maybe it is a scorching day and they have been without water for some time. What can we in our situation do to alleviate the immediate needs of our brothers and sisters? Sometimes, oftentimes, it does not require much, but will we take the time to encounter them?

When the Prophet Elijah asked the widow at Zarephath for a small cup of water and some bread, the widow explained that she does not have much, and in fact what little she had she would feed her son and herself and then die. There was a drought in that area. The Prophet promised the widow that her jug of oil will not run dry and jar of flour will not go empty until rain falls once again, and so encouraged her to have faith. She believed, prepared something for the Prophet and she and her son lived off of that jar and jug for a year. God will provide.

The widow did as she was told because she believed that God would provide. Not a wishful thinking, but a response of profound faith, faith that if she placed the word of God first, everything else will be okay. Similarly, if we seek first the Kingdom of God, everything else that we need will come to us when we are ready to receive it. God provides for us, but we must trust and believe with sincere hearts. In our own lives, perhaps we can think of the times when others came to our hour of need. God sent those people into our lives. What might God be asking us to do today? How might God be trying to provide for another through us today? May we respond in faith like the widow who used the little oil and flour to provide for Elijah, and help those who are calling out to us today.