The Truth of Life
Greetings to the community of the Co-Cathedral and guests:
Last weekend, I was in Chicago helping with a retreat and the presenter was speaking about the plan of God for us. This is an immediate challenge as I can easily live life as if I have a plan for my life, but to seriously engage with the presence of God and trust through surrender that I need to discover the plan of Another. Also, the proposal was made that life is a task. I struggled with this word as it seems that task is a job, duty, chore, charge, labor. These would be synonyms for task. However, it seems that we can stay with “task” and discover the meaning as the message that this task ultimately consists in the complete, total fulfillment of the plan that God has for us.
Are you discovering the plan of God for you? I offer “discover” as it takes a lifetime to mature and be patient enough to pay attention to my experience and be open with my heart to know how the Spirit is guiding me to fulfillment. The beginning is baptism, the most important day of our life. The unfolding is nurtured by family, friends, and the larger
community. Ultimately, it is essential to recognize that I have been chosen, called, and my own effort is not the ultimate factor but patience in finding my way, trusting that my life has been touched by Jesus. With patience you will possess life. Patience is a fundamental factor in life. The Lord plants a seed in my garden and in time, grand things are brought forth and they cause us to grow. This happens in God’s time. Ouch, I thought it was all in my hands. Not really, but often I act and live as if this plan of mine is being created.
The truth of life is God’s life; we must remove our measure and discover the measure of God. Our measure is small and easily suffocates our hearts. You are at the center, Lord Jesus, and the measure is yours, following Another, a journey. The two weekends before this one, we were being led by the journey of Peter, the first Pope. We know so much of his
story and how he gradually discovered and matured in his faith and way to follow Christ. His honest struggle gives us hope in our task of life as we come upon the plan of God for us.
We recall how Jesus was asking: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They offer their responses and then Christ asks, “and you”, with Peter declaring: “You are the Christ.” He was clear and very definite. However, what did this mean to him? Of course, he was sincere, but his journey would need to open his heart to the truth of this announcement. We listened last weekend to his lack of understanding about the Christ.
Jesus is forming them with another step about his identity by saying: “Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed and the third day be raised.” Imagine how they received this message from their friend who was God and fully human. They had to be
terrified and Peter steps in to defend Jesus by saying: “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall every happen to you.” Go back to the Gospel: “you are the Christ”, he did not comprehend the plan of God. Jesus was living the will of the Father and Peter was focused on himself. The journey of truth was only just beginning.
Jesus is quick with a correction: “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” Peter must have been devastated with his lack of awareness of who Christ was in living the “plan of God”. The truth of life is God’s life and Jesus continued to love Peter and walk with him on the journey of truth and life. We need this patience to gradually discover the face of Jesus on our own journey with the Church and the companions with whom to ask questions and to know deeply: “By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”
To conclude, we recall Peter in the boat after the Resurrection. Jesus has made breakfast on the shore. He calls them to join Him, and this is the first meeting with Peter and Jesus after he denied Christ three times. He walks up to the charcoal fire and perhaps there is a log there with Jesus seated and maybe Christ invites him to be seated. And then, Jesus says: “Peter, do you love me? Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” The journey of life being a task brings Peter to the grace of the truth. We need this patience with ourselves and the call to stay with the task and not jump ship because we are annoyed or frustrated, so we just pull away. We need the words from the Gospel of this weekend: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
We journey together in the love and truth of Christ.