Needy Abundance

“I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need.
I can do all things in him who strengthens me.”

Philippians 4:12b-13

One of the most popular verses in the Bible among teenagers and young people seems to be “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13) and for good reason. It’s quite encouraging to see that young people are confessing that it is indeed Christ who strengthens them, and because He does, they can do “anything.” Although the words spoken by St. Paul is indeed true, one must read and understand them with the intention with which St. Paul spoke them.

To fully understand a certain verse of Scripture, we must see what comes before and after it. Before St. Paul wrote that famous line, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” he shared how he has lived through both abundance and scarcity. It is because St. Paul has seen how God has been faithful through the good times and bad that he uttered in faith and conviction, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” This doing all things is not a sharing in God’s omnipotence, but rather trusting completely in God’s Divine Providence. Later in the same letter St. Paul writes, “My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19).

So, yes, we can do all things in Christ Jesus who strengthen us, but only in accord to God’s will in Christ Jesus. We can do all things that the Lord is asking of us if we place our focus on Him for He will give us all the graces that we will need to carry out that mission. But all this presupposes that one firmly believes in God and His Providence. Have we experienced abundance in our lives, when everything goes as planned and even better than we could have imagined? How about times when we were in need, when things were not going as we have hoped? Do we believe that God was there with us in both abundance and in need? Do we believe that God provided for us even when it seemed as if we were alone and had nothing left onto which we could grasp? That’s the point St. Paul was trying to convey — that God was there for him and provided for him in both the good times and the bad and because he knows and believes that, he can do all things in Christ and through Christ, who is his strength. Do we know that? Do we believe that?

Where are we in our lives today? Are we experiencing abundance? Are we weathering through difficult storms? Where ever we may be, let us try to see the hand of God in motion, trusting that every abundance is a gift from God and knowing that every need and storm will lead us to shores that we never knew existed. God’s grace may be mysterious, but it is always sure.

The Joy of Rejection

“Jesus said to them,

‘Did you never read in the Scriptures:
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?’”

Matthew 21:42

Are you thinking that the title of this reflection is paradoxical? Can rejection really be joyful? Rejection is never easy and it usually brings with it anxiety and negatively-charged emotions. Perhaps rejection brings a sense of worthlessness and it makes us question our value and even our dignity. The line from Psalm 118 that Jesus quotes, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” challenges us to see rejection in a whole new way, even finding the joy that comes from it.

The entire earthly life of Jesus has been a contradiction to the Jewish people, challenging them to see the Law, which binds them with God, in a radically different way — not how it has been adapted, but how it was intended to be in accord with the nature of God. One of the biggest challenges for the Jews was to love and pray for their enemies. Another was the Beatitudes. For the Jews in the time of Jesus, someone was truly blessed if they had land and descendants and when things were going well. But Jesus said blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, and those who are persecuted! Instead of clinging to the Law Himself (Jesus), the Jews chose to attach themselves to the law that they have come to adapt to be their own, so when Jesus came to them, they rejected Him because what He preached was seemingly against the law. Jesus is the stone that was rejected by the builders. But, the next part of the verse says it all: He became the cornerstone.

This pattern of the Jewish people was not new at the time of Jesus. In fact, from the times of the prophets, the Israelites have rejected the prophets when they implored them to convert and change their ways. They even plotted to kill them. Just as they treated the prophets, they too treated Jesus. But we know Jesus’s death was not the end. He rose from the dead. His rejection by the people ended not in death, but in life, life that is eternal. So yes there is a joy that comes with rejection — we know that the battle has already been won and that whatever rejection we experience here, especially if for the sake of our faith, is a witness to Christ and His love. As Christians, when we are rejected, it is not because we are not good enough, but because we have been chosen for something else; we have been chosen for heaven.

The next time we experience rejection, whether it be in small ways or larger ways, let us bring it to prayer and join it with the rejection Christ experienced and pray what the Lord quoted, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” confident that the Lord has much bigger plans and that these setbacks are really stones that are building up the Kingdom. May we come to experience the joy that comes with rejection, uniting ourselves to Christ, and seeing the beauty of God’s plan come to fruition.

Attitude of Christ

“Christ Jesus,
Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness.”

Philippians 2:6-7

Continuing with the theme of God’s mercy and generosity, this Sunday’s readings touch on the nature of God and the “attitude of Christ.” In last week’s reflection I mentioned how blessed we are that God is unfair in His dealings with us and this week we are reminded that God’s mercy is extended towards all. Whoever wishes to turn from their sinful ways will receive the mercy of God. Not only this, but St. Paul reminds us of the attitude Christ put on — complete and utter humility.

This is something completely unheard of. Why would an all-powerful Being choose to humble Himself and enter into His own creation, and be subject to their laws? It makes no sense, but again God’s ways are above our ways. It was because of unconditional love, which is God’s very nature, that He took on human flesh to be in complete solidarity with us. He assumed our human condition (except sin) so that He can save us from the destructive end to which life without God will ultimately lead. This week’s reflection continues with an excerpt from my reflection from this past Palm Sunday, “Emptied to the End.”

“Jesus loved us to the very end. For three years He taught and preached and performed numerous miracles while walking on this earth. Many believed but others wanted Him gone. Jesus’s love was the visible expression of the eternal love with which God has loved us. From the healings and miracles to the final sacrifice on the Cross, those were all expressions and manifestations of God’s unconditional love for us.

From the moment God became man to the moment Jesus breathed His last on the Cross, Jesus’s entire life was one of “kenosis” or self-emptying. God chose to empty Himself and condescended to earth leaving the glory of Heaven, being born in the most humble of states. God loves us so much that He was willing to assume our lowly human nature, experiencing all that we do as humans (but sin) so that He might truly understand us but at the same time so that we might dare taste the glory of His divinity. When God assumed our humanity, humanity was forever changed. But this was not enough.

Jesus willingly suffered threats, humiliation, scourging, ridicule, and crucifixion. On the Cross, Jesus was emptied of every last drop of blood and He breathed His last. In breathing His last and giving over His Spirit, Jesus breathed life into the Church. In dying, Jesus gave us life. In emptying Himself to the very end, Jesus fills us with new life.”

May we today and everyday put on the same attitude that Christ had, clothing ourselves in complete humility so that we might come to love others as we are loved and by our example, move others to do the same.