Holy Days and Gospel Reflections by King Heather

Author:King, Heather [King, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Magnificat
Published: 2013-12-09T00:00:00+00:00

Faith on Earth

The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Lk 18:6-8)

So much of life is waiting, and how impatient we are! How quick we are to think God is slow, but how slow we are to turn to trust and love him! Like the importunate widow, we beg and beg, and he showers us with gifts. The real question is: When we get what we want, what do we do with it?

I once heard a woman say, “I used to stay up all night doing crack, then lie down at 4 AM and say, ‘God, please help me sleep!’” I so related. When I was in the throes of my own addiction, if I managed to get any kind of sleep, I’d get up, light a cigarette, and start drinking again.

We want God to do for us, and then to forget him. We want a magician, a miracle worker. If we really knew how little was due us, maybe we wouldn’t quite so insistently ask for it. As Oscar Wilde observed in De Profundis, “The people who work for an hour in the vineyard in the cool of the evening receive just as much reward as those who have toiled there all day long in the hot sun. Why shouldn’t they? Probably no one deserved anything.”

That we don’t deserve anything and yet are freely given everything is the radical basis of Christianity. Through absolutely no virtue of my own, my obsession to drink was finally lifted. I could hardly believe that my bad track record was not going to be used against me. I could start falling asleep instead of passing out. I could start seeking God and helping another alcoholic.

Christ wants not justice, but mercy. He wants us to give what we’ve been given away. He wants us to come awake in love.

Heavenly Father, help us to have faith. Help us call to you day and night, not with demands, but with thanks and praise.

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