Wishing, Praying, Being Present

Wishing, Praying, Being Present

Ever wish you lived in some other time and place?  Haven’t we all.  And yet consider this challenge from the ancient philosopher and theologian, St. Augustine:

“Whenever we suffer some affliction, we should regard it both as a punishment and as a correction.  Our holy Scriptures themselves do not promise us peace, security, and rest.  On the contrary, the Gospel makes no secret of the troubles and temptations that await us, but it also says that he who perseveres to the end will be saved.  What good has there ever been in this life since the time when the first man received the just sentence of death and the curse from which Christ our Lord has delivered us?

“So we must not grumble, my brothers, for as the Apostle says:  Some of them murmured and were destroyed by serpents.  Is there any affliction now endured by mankind that was not endured by our fathers before us?  What sufferings of ours even bear comparison with what we know of their sufferings?  And yet you hear people complaining about the present day and age because things were so much better in former times.  I wonder what would happen if they could be taken back to the days of their ancestors – would we not still hear them complaining?  You may think past ages were good, but it is only because you are not living in them.

“It amazes me that you who have now been freed from the curse, who have believed in the Son of God, who have been instructed in the Holy Scriptures – that you can think the days of Adam were good.  And your ancestors bore the curse of Adam, of that Adam to whom the words were addressed:  With sweat on your brow you shall eat your bread; you shall till the earth from which you were taken, and it will yield you thorns and thistles.  This is what he deserved and what he had to suffer; this is the punishment meted out to him by the just judgment of God.  How then can you think that past ages were better than your own?  From the time of that first Adam to the time of his descendants today, man’s lot has been labor and sweat, thorns and thistles.  Have we forgotten the flood and the calamitous times of famine and war whose history has been recorded precisely in order to keep us from complaining to God on account of our own times?  Just think what those past ages were like!  Is there one of us who does not shudder to hear or read of them?  Far from justifying complaints about our own time, they teach us how much we have to be thankful for.”  (Sermo Caillau-Saint Ives 2, 92:  PLS 2, 441-552)

Does this mean that we resign ourselves to the horrid conditions in our world today – the wars that ravage Ukraine, Iraq, Gaza, Syria, and elsewhere; the racial tensions of Ferguson, MO; the scourge of violence and poverty that lead children to seek haven at our borders?  On the contrary, we must pray to the God within us, seeking to know from God how we might respond to these crises as God’s hands and feet on earth.  The plight of poor children inspired St. Vincent de Paul to create concrete acts of charity to alleviate such poverty.  The scourge of war led St. Francis of Assisi to become an instrument of God’s peace on earth. 

What is God calling you and me to do in our times?  It is not to retreat to past times of illusory golden ages that never existed.  It is rather to ascend to the mountaintop with the Lord Jesus to discern how we might be Christ to others.  And, like Christ, we come down from the mountaintop to give ourselves entirely to the service and care of others – providing healing and reconciliation to whomever we meet and to whomever God calls us to serve.  It is only in this way can we arrive more fully at the kingdom of God.

In our discernment, we pray:  “Almighty God, ever-loving Father, your care extends beyond the boundaries of race and nation to the hearts of all who live.  May the walls which prejudice raises between us, crumble beneath the shadow of your outstretched arm.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen.”