Choosing a Side

First published March 28, 2019.

We make many decisions on a daily basis, such as what to drink, what to eat, what clothes to wear, and how to respond to questions and situations. There are also decisions about certain moments in our lives, i.e. what to do at this moment, and then there are those decisions that we must make that dictate how we live our lives. We must choose a side.

Do we choose to be on the side of good or on the side of evil? Do we choose to stand with God or with the devil. Do we choose to turn a blind eye or do we stand up for justice? Do we choose sin or do we relish in love and communion? Do we choose life or do we choose death? We can not be in between on these matters. As Christians we know we belong to God and to His love, but do we choose to be so?

It is essential that we know what we choose because that will dictate how we will live our lives. If we choose the side of good and life, then our actions will be directed towards that. However, if we choose the side of evil and death, then our actions and decisions will lead to destruction and hopelessness. We must choose a side and hold fast to that decision, and live each day safeguarding it. Hopefully we will choose to stand with the side of good and life because only then will we find joy and fulfillment. As Scripture tells us, our God is the God of the living and not of the dead. We were created for life. Jesus came to give us life, and for us to have it to the full. We are a people of life. We are such because we are created in the image and likeness of God, who is love and life. Though death entered by the sin of man (Adam), life and eternal life was won for us by Jesus.

We are by nature made for the good and made for life. We must know that. We must believe that. There is only one life - Jesus: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me" (Jn. 14:6). Our Lord tells us in today's Gospel reading: "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters" (Lk. 11:23). If we choose life, we choose to stand with Christ. If we choose to stand with Christ, we will remain steadfast and unwavering even in the midst of trials and tumultuous waves for we will be united to Him and in Him. In remaining with Christ and being united with and in Him we will have life, joy, peace, hope, and love.

What is your decision? Will you stand united with Christ? Choose Christ, choose life. Let us ask God for the grace of courage and fortitude to remain steadfast in our resolve to stand with Christ.

History Matters

“However, take care and be earnestly on your guard
not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen,
nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live,
but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”

Deuteronomy 4:9

Recently I have heard of more and more people working on “family history” projects or ancestry/family tree projects where people use programs and services to learn more about their family tree and ancestors and compile them into a neat collection so the current and future generations might come to know their history.

Moses reminded the Israelites to remember where they came from and who they were: the Chosen People of God. They were the remember how while they were enslaved by the Egyptians God heard their cry and saw their affliction and sent Moses to lead them out of slavery through the Red Sea and into wilderness where eventually they will reach the Promised Land. They were to remember their father Abraham and God’s covenant with him as well as the covenant God made with them. How God provided for them every step of the way. These things the people ought to remember and to pass on to their children so that all may come to know their heritage, that they were a people chosen by God.

Do we remember our heritage? The history of the Israelites is also our history. We, as Christians, are the descendants of Abraham. We are part of God’s family. Do we often think about that? Do we tell our children and grandchildren, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends about our history — the story of God’s love for us? How God created the world and breathed into us the His very breath, the breath of life and when man sinned He continued to provide for them, making a covenant with Abraham with whom He made an unconditional covenant that was later further defined in David from whose line will come the Savior and Messiah. And when the fullness of time came, He sent His only begotten Son into the world to save us from the deadly effects of the world so that we might have eternal life and be in communion with Him, restoring the Paradise we once lost because of sin? This is our story brothers and sisters. Let us never forget and let us never be ashamed to share it!

Those We Discount

“Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

Luke 4:27

When we see someone on the street who may be dressed sloppily or someone on the subway wearing dirty sneakers with holes in them along with a torn t-shirt, what do we think to ourselves? Do we find ourselves judging them? Oh, he must be homeless. I wonder what he did to get himself in the shape he is today. Maybe we judge by our actions — we try to avoid them, look the other way, look down, and maybe clutch onto our belongings. If we are honest, I think most of us at some point in our lives have done something like that, either in thought or in action. We’ve judged others. We’ve discounted them.

The Scriptures record the affliction of Naaman, an army commander whose troops captured the Israelites. He was afflicted with leprosy and the little servant girl, who was an Israelite, told Naaman’s wife that if he only went to the Israelite Prophet he could be cured. He did but at first he was unimpressed because the Prophet Elisha did not call down the gods and cure him right then and there. Instead, Elisha told him to go and wash himself in the Jordan. Initially Naaman felt belittled, but after listening to the pleading of his servants, he went into the Jordan and was made clean. This resulted in Naaman saying, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth, except in Israel.”

In the Gospel, Jesus recounts the numerous things God has done in history, including healing those who were not Jews. He reminded the people of the case of Naaman where God healed him, a Syrian, while many Jews suffered from leprosy. Jesus highlighted Naaman’s faith. It is faith that saves, not simply our “connections.” Naaman discounted Elisha and the Israelites, but had come to faith. The Israelites were chosen by God to be a people “peculiarly His own,” but they had discounted God. While Jesus was pointing out the saving actions of God in history, including curing a pagan leper, the Jews grew furious and wanted to throw Him off a cliff.

Just because Naaman was a Syrian, the Jews passed judgement on him and on Jesus when He mentioned how God was merciful towards Naaman and how that had moved him to conversion. But the Jews had no time for that. The Jews listening to Jesus then were so content with their laws and customs that they had forgotten Giver of those laws. Instead of the worshipping the Law (Jesus) that was before them, they worshipped their own stubbornness and attachment to the letter of the law, and in doing so discounted all those who were not Jews.

Who have we discounted in the past because of our own pride and stubbornness? May we never discount someone simply because they do not share our views and opinions or because they look different or appear unkept, because that very person is who the Lord has placed before us so that we might encounter Him. When we discount anyone who may come our way, we discount God. Those whom we discount have much to teach us. Those whom we discount may bring us to faith. Let us ask the Father for the grace of humility and charity so that the next time we find ourselves discounting someone we might say to ourselves, “Lord, teach me to see You in him.”