Can we really ever be in absolute control or certain about everything in life? We hate to admit it, but the answer is NO. We are not omnipotent, nor can we be omnipresent. The only thing that we can actually be certain about is, ironically, that very knowledge that we are not in control and we do not know everything. The only “control” we have is how we choose to live our lives according to the truth that sets us free, and that freedom can only be found in letting go of our very humanistic and seemingly innate desire to be in control. Furthermore, it is humbling, but very important, that we have to choose to let go and allow ourselves to learn and discover the richness of faith in Christ Jesus instead of worldly standards and expectations alone. Therefore, I would like to reflect upon how true faith can help to anchor our lives in the midst of many uncertainties.
First, I want to highlight a conversation between St. Justin and a prefect who was sent to convict and torture him, especially the part when the saint was questioned about eternal life, whether he was sure of going to heaven, to which he answered, “I hope that I shall enter God’s house if I suffer that way (martyrdom). For I know that God’s favor is stored up until the end of the whole world for all who have lived good lives.” Nonetheless, the prefect Rusticus pushed the envelope: “Do you have an idea that you will go to heaven to receive some suitable rewards?” To which the saint affirmed, “It is not an idea that I have; it is something I know well and hold to be most certain.”
In that one short answer, St. Justin taught us so much about eternal life and the foundation of faith. For us as Christians, our faith is not just another idea, or is eternal life something made-up and wishy-washy. The reason why we believe is not just some humanistic or intellectual ideas, because the source of our faith, hope, and love is God Himself, and He is true and faithful to His promises and His words. The surety of our faith is grounded not on something that is quantifiable or calculable by human means, but on the very existence and faithful promise of the One who created us, redeemed and saved us, and continues to sanctify us with His loving grace. Our faith is true because it is grounded in the faithfulness of God, who never abandoned us; furthermore, He did the unimaginable in loving us when we strayed away from Him and chose to reject Him.
For anyone and everyone who has a personal understanding and relationship with God, I believe we can all attest to His everlasting faithfulness, even when we could not love ourselves and others around us. Faith, hope, and love are the foundational and essential theological virtues that perfect and bring into completion what we cannot simply achieve ourselves with just the cardinal virtues. Even with our best intentions, we will fall short in our lives of faith because we are all weak, broken, and have our own particular breaking points. The most humbling and genuine act that we can offer God is our heartfelt desire to reconcile and ask for forgiveness as to find the necessary grace to stand up and walk again.
Our faith, hope, and love help us be grounded in the never-changing and faithful presence of God, even on days when we cannot sense Him and doubt His goodness. The theological virtues help us to continue to love our brothers and sisters, even when they are hard to love or have chosen to hurt us. We choose to love because He has first loved us. We choose to continue to pray and care for those who are around us because we are all still (different) works in progress. Just like St. Justin and martyrs who went before us, we have to choose to love our enemies and persecutors, even when we are rejected, abandoned, betrayed, and hurt for no apparent reasons except for what we believe and who we try to be as Christians.
It is so easy to say that we are Christians until things begin to go wrong and we are challenged to abandon the truth, justice, and what is asked of us by the Lord Himself. Too many people turn to worldly and humanistic means to protect their personal, idealistic, and egocentric freedom without truly caring for the good of others. Too many of us have stopped looking at one another as gifts from the Lord and as burdens, troubles, or means to our particular ends. For me, not as a theologian, but as a Catholic and priest, I believe it is the root of many of our problems!
We sin and hurt one another when we stop seeing each other as gifts from the Lord. In John 17:24, the Lord Himself said, “Father, they are your gift to me.” Imagine that! To be honest, I get really emotional when I read the Farewell Discourse, especially the prayer of Jesus, in the Gospel of St. John, because I can feel how much He loves us. I know I am a big baby, but cried over the words many times because I hear how much the Savior and Redeemer loves me and you! We belong to Him, and He personally prayed for us! When we read the loving tenderness that is interwoven behind the words that the Lord told His own disciples (and to us, who are disciples by virtue of our faith), we cannot not feel the genuine desire that we are united and be one with one another just as He is one with the Father in the Holy Spirit.
The Lord, before His Passion, prayed and interceded for us in a direct way to the Father. He prayed for His immediate as well as future disciples. He prayed that we might love and be united with one another just as He has loved and desired that we are one with Him, in the Father through the power and working of the Holy Spirit. If we really take what He has commanded us by heart, I believe we can avoid so much violence, evil, and suffering in this world. When we fall short on loving one another, stop seeing others as gifts from God; there is little to nothing that could or would stop us from truly giving ourselves and choosing a Christlike love.
If I can give one advice to many different situations that often arise, particularly being a Catholic priest and military chaplain, that would be remembering the gifts that we can offer to one another instead of seeing each other as a burden. Spousal, familial, professional, and personal relationships get tense, as well as hurts and misunderstandings begin to creep in when we focus on the other person’s problems and how they are not living up to our standards. When we stop seeing the blessings they offer and the gifts they bring to our lives, we begin to treat them like problems to avoid and remove or objects to be used and manipulated. When we fall short on charity, especially the personal willingness and desire to choose to love our brothers and sisters in both words and actions, a lot of wrongs can happen in a short time.
The martyrs chose to love those who were willing to persecute and kill them. The saints chose to love those who misunderstood, wrongly condemned, and tried to bring them harm. In one way or another, all the holy ones of God chose to embrace the crosses that were imposed on them by others. They embraced all the challenges, even the wrongdoings, out of love because they understood their mission and call to love that comes from the good Lord Himself. They willed to love their enemies and those who meant to do them wrong, and I am sure that was hard, because it is really not easy to love when it hurts.
No matter where we are on our faith journey, may we not lose heart by fixing our eyes on the Lord. We know for sure who we are and where we are going because He is faithful and true to His promises. We can be sure that He loves us, even though life can get challenging at times, because He meant what He said in both words and actions. Therefore, let us not lose heart but continue to persevere on our faith journey to find personal ways to love our brothers and sisters.
May we never forget, even in our hardest days, that we are God’s gifts to each other.