Photo by Ellen Qin on Unsplash
It seems the life of faith can sometimes feel like a ping pong match. On the one hand, a faith life is assenting to eternal truths. On the other hand, there is also the requirement to meet the needs of others in all we do as well.
The current state in the Church can be seen through this false division between following Jesus who is the Truth while at the same time seeing in the poor and those in need the very person of Jesus as well.
Both the commandments given by God, and our need to serve the poor come from the command given to Moses. “Be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” We follow the commandments of God and we serve those who need food, shelter, visitors, and people who are kind in meeting those needs of human dignity.
Another way to describe this tension is the vertical or transcendent relationship we are called to have with God, and the horizontal relationship we have with the people God has made.
In this way, the Cross becomes the way in which we understand how we are to live. It is what the season of Lent is all about. To love God, we must come to know God, both by learning how God wants us to live, and at the same time, by seeing more and more clearly the ways in which God is most clearly evident in the poor.
Let us pray.
Dear Jesus,
You call me to holiness. You encourage me to follow the commandments you give me so that I may live a life where I flourish in your sight. By calling me to holiness, you call me to recognize that because I am made in your image and likeness, and every other person is as well, I have a profound duty to meet the needs of all human beings whenever I can. Help me to do so, God. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.
Music: Cheezy Piano Medley by Alexander Nakarada
Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4833-cheezy-piano-medley
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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