You Have Faith, Use It

[Note: Today’s guest blogger is Gerard Pritchard. Gerard has been a Spiritus Parishoner for going on 15 years now, and says that he has “truly found my spiritual home here. I am so grateful for the wisdom that this blog has given me over the years, and thrilled to be able to offer some of my own thoughts. Thanks to Mike for the opportunity!” Thank YOU, Gerard!]

The reading that really struck me for today is the gospel from Mark 12. In it, the scribes ask Jesus: What is the first of the commandments? Jesus replies (citing Deuteronomy 6 – what is known as the Jewish Shema Yisrael): Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Secondly, he adds that “you should love your neighbor as yourself.”

This hit me like a ton of bricks. Yes, we may be doing this in our little Spiritus Christi bubble, but are we keeping this promise in our daily lives? How about as a nation?

Every day in the news, there is a constant barrage of executive orders and decisions that actually harm our neighbors. God is not at the center of these choices. I believe Lent is a perfect time to re-evaluate our thoughts and actions, and to take action against the injustices brought onto the people around us. 

When Jesus calls us to love one another, he doesn’t mean “I love you, but…” Nor does he suggest that only certain people fall into the “I love you” category. Everyone is included, and he means for us to love without any asterisk or conditions.

Then there’s that last line in this passage which says, “no one dared to ask him any more questions.” That was a hard one for me, because I am always asking questions. “Am I doing the right thing? What if it doesn’t work out?”

Clearly Jesus spoke with such authority that the people around him knew that he was speaking the truth. They did not need to press him further. The question really became about what they would do now that they had received his answer. If they truly believed what he just said (as the scribe did), then the next step is to put it into practice.

Deciding to love our neighbor is to put our trust in the Lord. While it may not always turn out as we expected or thought, it will all be OK. A good friend once told me, “You have faith, use it.” If I (we) just remember that we have a God that loves us unconditionally, we are going to be just fine. 

The first reading from Hosea 14 somewhat ominously us, “Let us not collapse through our guilt.” It is so easy to just get so overwhelmed with all the injustices going on and not do anything because we are paralyzed. I know that is how I get. We cannot collapse through our guilt; we have to push through it and do what is right. Another line of importance from Hosea is “I will heal their defection, says the Lord…” I believe what God is saying here is that we do not need to be in charge of it all, or have it all together as we try to love unconditionally…God will work to heal what needs to be healed; if we are open to it.