Faith in Action

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today offer a caution and a calling in our development of faith and commitment to action.

Persistent problem

The third Letter of John urges a community that is aware of doctrinal difficulty from some of its members to accept outside missionaries.

[5] You are faithful in all you do: Gaius’s aid to the missionaries is a manifestation of his true Christian faith.

In the Gospel from Luke, Jesus shares a short parable that emphasizes persistence in prayer leading to action.

* [18:1–14] The particularly Lucan material in the travel narrative concludes with two parables on prayer. The first (Lk 18:1–8) teaches the disciples the need of persistent prayer so that they not fall victims to apostasy (Lk 18:8).

Jeanne Schuler quotes Father John Kavanaugh, S. J. and notes that when Jesus looked for an exemplar of constant prayer, he chose a woman who demanded justice.

Are you religious?  Are you political? Do you challenge social norms?  Do you long for a contemplative life? The philosopher Father John Kavanaugh, S. J., died 6 years ago this month.  He warned against driving a wedge between faith and activism. This false dilemma suggests a crooked, not a pure heart: “It is a most dangerous separation.  For it is precisely this splitting of faith from social reality that seduces the religious impulse into a stance of mere accommodation to political and economic power.  Hence, the…dangerous tendency: the identification of faith with cultural standards, even cultural idols” (Following Christ in A Consumer Society, xiv). For Kavanaugh, the message of Jesus’ life is clear: “neither more interiority nor more activism, but precisely an integration of both; an activity that is truly revolutionary and a faith that is fully holy: saintly revolution” (xv).

Randall S. Rosenberg connects the Christian humanism of John Kavanaugh, S. J. to the teaching of the popes from John XXIII to Francis.

So what is Christian Humanism? It can be considered, of course, from many angles. But I associate it here with the popes of the second half of the 20th century – John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II – and into the 21st – Benedict XVI and Francis. Within the frame of Christian humanism, the dignity of the human person and the common good of persons reside at the center of economic, political, and cultural life, over and against inadequate accounts of personal and communal flourishing.  Christian humanism reflects – within the matrix of faith and reason – on human persons in a holistic manner: as created, as embodied spirit, as endowed with intellectual and volitional powers, as vulnerable, as called to joy, suffering and love, as having an eschatological destiny.

Don Schwager quotes “Persistent prayer transforms iniquity and wickedness into mercy,” by Ephrem the Syrian (306-373 AD).

"These two were stubborn, but persistent prayer was even more stubborn. The persistence of the widow humiliated both the iniquity that was rebelling against God and the boldness that was behaving arrogantly towards human beings. She subjected them to her will, so that they might provide her with a vindication over her adversary. Persistence transformed these two bitter branches, and they bore sweet fruit that was against their nature. The iniquity of the judge brought about a righteous judgment and a just retribution for the falsely accused woman. His wickedness gave peace to the afflicted one, although iniquity does not know how to judge, and wickedness does not know how to give refreshment. Persistence forced these two evil and bitter branches to give good fruit against their nature. If we persist in prayer, we should be even more able to prevail on the grace and justice of God to give us fruit that agrees with their nature. Let justice vindicate us, and let grace refresh us. Accordingly, the fruit of justice is the just reward of the oppressed, while the giving of refreshment to the afflicted is the fruit of grace." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 16.16.6)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 18:1-8 asserts that Persistence pays off. It pays off when we struggle to learn a new skill. It pays off when we stay on a diet. And it paid off for the widow in Jesus’ parable: eventually, the corrupt judge ruled in her favour.

the more time we spend in prayer, the more open we become to God’s grace—grace that can change our hearts. When you develop the habit of faithfully praying for something, God can use that time to form you. As you open yourself to his love and mercy (a good definition of prayer), your heart softens, and you start to see things from God’s perspective, not yours. You develop a heavenly vision that helps lift up and reshape your earthly vision.

A Friar Jude Winkler identifies Docetism as the heresy that appealed to the gnostic sense of the Greeks in the community of 3 John. He thinks critically about the problems of assessing true doctrine and nagging God in prayer as a required practice. Friar Jude exhorts us to replace attempting to control God to surrender to the Father who always provides the most loving response.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, summarizes a week of reflection on Death and Resurrection with quotes from Elizabeth Lesser, author and co-founder of Omega Institute, on “Five Ways of Practicing Dying,”.

Whenever you find yourself getting anxious about the big and small deaths of daily life—being out of control, not getting what you want, endings and partings—take a few minutes to allow in the possibility that you do not see the full picture. Often what looks terrible today will, in retrospect, have been a blessing. Just allow that possibility in. You do not have to understand or figure everything out. You can relax into the mystery of not knowing.

The attitude of surrender is connected to our meditation practice that brings us into the present, where we connect in prayer with the Father and obtain clarification of our action in the light of His grace.

References

(n.d.). 3 John, chapter 1 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved November 17, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/3john/
(n.d.). Luke, chapter 18 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved November 17, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/18
(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved November 17, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
(2015, September 8). The Christian Humanism of John Kavanaugh, S.J. (Part I) | Daily .... Retrieved November 17, 2018, from https://dailytheology.org/2015/09/08/the-christian-humanism-of-john-kavanaugh-s-j-part-i/
(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved November 17, 2018, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
(n.d.). Mass Readings and .... Retrieved November 17, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved November 17, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/