WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?
Author: Fr. Michael Byron
October 06, 2019
I have a few
neurotic habits in my life, and one of them is called Sudoku. As many on our
parish staff will attest, no work day in my office can begin before the daily
Sudoku puzzle in the newspaper has been vanquished. And like the crossword
puzzles, to which I also attend each day, they get more difficult to solve as
the week goes on.
A Monday AM
Sudoku can be completed in about 10 minutes, by Saturday AM, at least for me,
it can sometimes take almost two hours. And it is on those days that I
sometimes find myself wondering, “Why am I doing this?” And invariably the
answer is, “Because I committed to this, and I’m not going to let it go until
it’s finished.” And I recall the words of my wise father, from whom I inherited
this particular neurosis. It was he who said that, unlike a crossword puzzle,
if you’re willing to give Sudoku enough time and trial, you can always solve
it. Sometimes it’s quick and easy, and sometimes it’s long and frustrating.
That is true.
Much the
same can be said of our experience of faith, church, and God. Sometimes its
pleasant and comfortable, and sometimes it can be agonizing and painful. But
unlike the puzzles, the “why” question about these things is actually
important. My life, and the life of my community and world, will go on just
fine regardless of whether the Sudoku gets done each day. But the same cannot be
said of the things of faith, church, and God, and so the quality of the
commitment that is owed to those things is much more important and demanding.
There is something about salvation and well-being that attaches to matters of
religion, which is why we cling to them not because we are neurotic, but
because we are wise. And it’s why we cling to them not only when it is easy and
painless but especially when it is not.
In all of
our Sacred Scripture readings today we hear about commitments being put to the
test, of people wondering what they’ve gotten themselves into, and being encouraged
to stay with God and the gospel in times of discouragement. The prophet
Habakkuk puts a particularly poignant spin on this: “How long, O Lord?” the
people cry. “We ask for help but you do not listen! We endure violence, misery,
ruin, discord, strife and you appear not to care.” It would not be difficult to
understand an underlying question at work among the people of Israel here,
i.e., “Why are we doing this? Why have we committed ourselves to you?” And the
Lord’s response is not so much to explain things, but simply to reassure the
community that he does care, he is listening, and that their expectations are
reliable, even if they aren’t immediately realized. Their hope is to be
trusted.
When St.
Paul wrote to Timothy in today’s second reading, the message was much the same.
Paul was writing from prison, where he had landed because of his commitment to
preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. And to Timothy he says, “Bear your share
of hardship for the gospel, with the strength that comes from God.” The
treasure and the reward are worthy of struggle.
And Jesus’
words in the gospel today can seem even more demanding of those who had been
chosen to follow him. He invites them, and us, into a kind of faith and
commitment that is open to hope in what seems impossible for the moment—like a
mulberry tree being uprooted and transplanted in the sea—or in our case, a
world without hatred and violence, or a church without corruption, or a life
without profound pain and disappointment. Hang on to faith, he says, even when
it seems that the work is endless and the burdens are large, like the slave in
service to his master with little evident reward or even gratitude. This your
commitment to God. Do not let it be overwhelmed by the sufferings of now—even
the big ones, the seemingly impossible ones. God is near, ready always to live
and work in and through us, if we will stay true to our task.
Today, as
most parishioners know already, is our annual celebration of stewardship, and
our deliberate rededication to the commitments of our faith, our church, and
our God. We make a deliberate posing of
the question today, “Why are we doing this?” And the answers are innumerable
and important. In just a moment we will watch a video that describes several of
those answers here at Pax Christi in particular.
Your
generosity in service, in ministry, in financial commitments, in prayer, and in
outreach to our community are the expressions of our hope and our care, every
single day. In our parish office we have a bulletin board that is dedicated to
posting thank you notes from people and organizations that have been changed
because of the commitments of Pax Christi. Some of those notes are from schools
in less affluent parts of town which we help regularly with relationships and
material support. Some are from grateful families whom we have welcomed at the
time of death of a loved one. Some are from social service agencies like PROP
that offer basic life necessities to people in need. Some are from the Office
of Mission of the Archdiocese because of our generosity to the church in
Africa. It’s all possible because of you. That is why we are doing this. And
instead of posting a thank you note on that bulletin board, I’ll just say it
here and now: For all you do to keep us faithful to our commitments, thank you.
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