Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church
“God formed man to be imperishable…
the souls of the just are in the hand of God,
and no torment shall touch them.”
How’s that for good news! When a reading begins this way, I’m eager to read more. But then the very next sentence is about how we may look at their death as an affliction, or utter destruction. Which is it? Do we get God’s protection, or don’t we?
Readings like this help toughen us up for the challenges of Christian life. We’re not just here to bask in Jesus’s Love, or to enjoy the goodness and comfort of faith. God gives us the good things of this world so that we will fulfill our calling, and it’s not going to be easy. The Divine Coach is giving the team a pep-talk to get us through all the long practices and draining competition. Victory will be difficult. We won’t achieve the prize with a lot of self-congratulatory, self-righteous celebration either. Instead, as Jesus reminds us, ‘we are un-profitable servants. We have only done our duty.’
Despite God’s free gift of his presence in this life, and a heavenly eternal life to follow, it’s easy for us to make excuses for why we don’t answer the Spirit’s call each day. What’s yours? I unfortunately have a list of things I often put before God. Today’s readings challenge my comfortable-Christian mentality. ‘Chastized a little, we shall be greatly blessed.’ We have received everything, every breath, from our almighty and loving savior. He cannot possibly ask for too much. “We are but unprofitable servants.” If following Jesus’s call leads us into suffering, let us rejoice! ‘God tried them, and found them worthy of himself.’ Whether it’s actively participating in every Sunday Mass, giving more to charity, spending time with the poor, forgiving the person who wronged you, witnessing to your co-workers, giving up your secret sin, or whatever way you can become more like Christ, let today be the day that God’s work in you rises up again.
Let us ‘do all that our Master has commanded,’ and therefore have a ‘hope full of immortality.’ Amen!
-Chris Nieport