Dear friends,
“No act of virtue can be great if it is not followed by advantage for others. So, no matter how much time you spend fasting, no matter how much you sleep on a hard floor and eat ashes and sigh continually, if you do no good to others, you do nothing great.”
Words of the great Saint John Chrysostom which remind us that all piety should be directed to making a difference; a difference to ourselves by deepening our faith and a difference to others, thus making our religious observance pro-active. This is the message of the prophets of the Old Testament and of prophets in our own times. On Ash Wednesday, we heard the prophet Isaiah link fasting with social justice:
“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?” (Isaiah 58:6-7)
Many years later, following the example of Jesus that religious observance (including fasting, alms-giving, and prayer) should make a difference to others as well as to ourselves, the emerging Church continued in that tradition:
“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,’ and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” (James 2:14-17)
Many of you who attended Fr. Spencer’s talks on Ignatian Spirituality just before Lent said how much you learned and how informative they were. Ignatius understood that his spiritual exercises were only valuable if they were linked with making a difference to those around us.
“The Gospel demands a life freed from egoism and self-seeking, from all attempts to seek one’s own advantage and from every form of exploitation of one’s neighbor. It demands a life in which the justice of the Gospel shines out in a willingness. . . to recognize and respect the rights of all, especially the poor and the powerless.” (From the Ignatian General Congregation 32)
Putting our faith into action and ensuring our spiritual lives are rooted in Christ means that we will be living out our baptismal covenant. So often, Lent can seem like a chore and so often we feel miserable because we fail. We need to set ourselves realistic goals this Lent and take on things we know we can achieve. Remember the words of Teresa of Calcutta:
“We cannot all do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”
Affectionately,
Carl
Your priest and pastor.
