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Five Important Spiritual Thoughts from the Liturgy of the Word
…and follow up for the Secular Franciscan
September 22 – September 28
1 — He kept trying to see him. (Lk 9:9)**
…Do I keep “how
Jesus would think, act and say” as the guide to my life?
2 — “But
who do you say that I am?” (Lk 9:20)**Extended meditation:
This question of the Gospel is among
the five or so most important questions that we must ask ourselves as we
develop our own spirituality:Who
do you say that I am? that is,Who
do we say Jesus Christ is?It is among the
most important spiritual questions because depending on our answer, we develop
our approach to Jesus, and we direct our spiritual lives—rightly or wrongly. The truth of faith, as Peter says in this
portion of the Gospel, is that Jesus is the Lord of our lives, the living and
true God, the person that we must pattern ourselves after, the way, the truth
and the life…and measure how we are doing by studying what we are doing in
comparison to Jesus’s life.In answer to the
question of who Jesus is for us, many have said for example that Jesus for them
is someone who punishes evil and punishes evil people. And in that case, Jesus becomes a God who
condemns—and these people form their religion in that light. When they do, there is anger and hatred and
what they might call “justifiable” revenge.
That is not a very good picture of who Jesus Christ is, and therefore
religion is not a pleasant thing at all for them, or for the others they meet.Still others have answered that Jesus
is someone who is not real because they see so many people who are hypocritical
in the Church or in religion. Or because
they have had things go wrong for them in one way or another. Every Christian and certainly every Franciscan
in our world is called to answer this question in light of our Christian
faith. The truth is that Jesus is Lord,
the way, the truth and the life, the Lord contained in the Scriptures that we
read, God who gives real hope to our world.Jesus is the pattern. That is, we accept as our guideline of
living, the Gospels of Sacred Scripture, that is, the actions and words of
Jesus, and as best we can, His thinking in individual cases. Jesus is the measure. We look at our actions and words over a
significant amount of time, say our past lives, and we study, say on a scale of
1-10, how close we came to the pattern that Jesus gave us.Catholic Christians, and those of us
who follow Francis of Assisi, in the past have made the Institution of the
Eucharist as one of the most important actions that the Lord performed. In exactly the same way, and for the same
reason—making the Lord present—are the words, actions and thoughts of Jesus
throughout the Gospels.We must begin to see that the Gospels
are not a “proof” that the Christian religion is the true religion or the like. The Gospels are just as much the real
presence as Jesus in the Eucharist.And so, we must take the time to study
the person of Jesus and how he acted with regard to love, anger, prayer, mental
and physical pain, being a disciple, and so forth, and accept how Jesus
behaved. That is, we ask WWJS, what
would Jesus say, WWJD, what would Jesus do, and as far as possible WWJT, what
would Jesus think—and apply it to our lives.
3 – “But you, man of God, pursue
righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness.” (1 Tim 6:11)…Go through each of
these virtues, asking myself about how I am keeping them.
4 – “An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was
the greatest. Jesus
realized the intention of their hearts.” (Lk 9:46-47)**…Is jealousy of
others a problem in my life?
5 – “I will follow you wherever you go.” (Lk 9:57)
…Such is my
profession as a Franciscan. Do I mean
it?
** one of the most important quotes in the Gospels
