By Father Rich Tomkosky
Saint Paul reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ unless we let something or someone to cause this to happen. What will separate us from the love of Christ will anguish, distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or the sword, or marriage and family problems, employment difficulties, mental or physical illness, or living far away from family and friends? Remember we conquer all things in Him who has loved us, as Saint Paul says but only if we unite all things to Jesus. This is one of the keys of growing in holiness, as I’ve said before: to unite everything with Jesus, especially the difficulties of our life, and to ask our Lady for special help, especially through the morning offering and daily Rosary.
Conversely, the difficulties of life will separate us from the love of God if we turn in on ourselves. A real example: contrast Judas vs. Saint Peter during Jesus’ Passion and death. Both betrayed Jesus in a real way: Judas at the last Supper and then turning Jesus into the authorities; Peter in the courtyard of the high priest denied knowing Jesus three times before the rooster crowed. But the difference in the two is profound: Judas hung himself in despair; Peter on the other hand when he heard the rooster crow realized what he had done and ran away in tears, but not in tears of despair (maybe at first?) but (eventually) tears of REPENTENCE. And Jesus forgave Peter after the Resurrection when he made his threefold profession of love for Jesus, and Jesus then gave him the sacred task to spiritually feed the Lord’s sheep as Pope (John 21:15-19). So worldly sorrow, turns inward and (e.g., Judas), leads to death; Godly sorrow, repents of sin and turns outward to the one we have injured: God or another person and (e.g., Saint Peter), leads to moral and spiritual change for the better, a new lease on life, and ultimate healing from God. Now we can do this in the Sacrament of Confession.
“Why spend your money for what is not bread, your wages for what fails to satisfy?”, as God said to Isaiah. The prophet’s message is: God’s love is the only thing that can ultimately bring meaning and purpose to our lives. The more we cultivate our relationship with the Blessed Trinity in an intimate way: though the fervent reception of the Sacraments of the Church, especially the Eucharist and Confession, through making the life of prayer an essential daily priority, through continuing to study the gift of our Catholic faith in all its rich and splendid dimensions, through perseverance and patience in daily life, bearing all things in faith, the good and bad, in this world, the more we come to see that lasting spiritual riches are what we need to seek.
It is a paradox of this earthly life that, as the soon to be Blessed Archbishop Fulton Sheen put it, “it is ever true that the richer a soul is on the inside, the less need it has of luxuries on the outside. Excessive adornments and an inordinate love of comforts are proofs of our inner nakedness” (from The Priest Is Not His Own, p.13). Reflect upon that. Ultimately, a life of comfort and ease, the latest fashions, and any variety of material luxuries and sensual pleasures will NEVER make us inwardly happy (see our Hollywood, music, and sports celebrities for proof of that); only intimate union with God in the depths of our heart, mind, and soul can give us the inner joy/contentment we all seek. The message is: Put your Trust in God and seek His Kingdom and everything will be provided for us, in God’s will, for our ultimate good.
If we do our part to seek out God and His love, He is never outdone in generosity. Remember God has loved us first – just look at the Crucifix if you ever doubt that – when dealing in our life with suffering, death, distress, persecution or whatever else that calls us to die to self and trust more in the Lord. The Lord will take the meager five loaves and two fish of our lives and turn it into abundance. Remember 12 wicker baskets were left over after feeding five thousand men. There was more after than in the beginning!
God asks us to invite Him into our hearts, so He can work His wonders, but remember His wonders are usually on the spiritual level since He is looking out for our eternal well-being, not just the here and now. The mystery of the Cross always leads to the abundant life of the Resurrection, if borne in union with Christ. Saint Paul is right: Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, unless we let it. Nothing can satisfy the hunger of our souls except the Lord’s love and friendship. Read the whole Romans chapter 8 this week: All things work for good for those who love God (verse 28) – which ultimately will lead to the vision of the Blessed Trinity in Heaven. God bless you.
Father Rich Tomkosky is the Pastor of Saint Thomas the Apostle Parish in Bedford and Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Beans Cove.
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