I am becoming ever more uncomfortable. Gave up tobacco products for lent. But that’s not the source of my discomfort.
Just last week our office went to a funeral memorial service for the husband of my boss. That man was diagnosed with stage for Cancer (abdominal)on January 8 and died March 9. A gonner; this was nothing less than a train wreck for him, his wife and family. He was 60. Our time here is short.
The growing source of my discomfort is the slow dawn of realization that while I’ve kept true to the observation of the Churches proscriptions, keeping holy the sabath, observing Holy Days of Obligation, going to confession, keeping Lenten duties, Stations of the Cross and daily prayer, I’m not “doing” the doings that Jesus really commanded we do. I contribute to the church each week; I contribute to DSF each year, but in terms of helping the poor, feeding the hungry, visiting the prisoners in jail, clothing the needy, I’m not so good. The “Christ” event that has always troubled me is the story of the rich young man told to give his wealth away to the poor and to follow Jesus. If that’s the measure of our “justification” in the Lord, I come up perilously short. I’m not a “people” person; I prefer to keep my neighbors at arms length. I can love my neighbor....at a distance, but up close and personal, not so much.
It is troubling.
I’ll preface this by noting that I’m not Catholic.
But we’re all sinners, brother, and we’re not justified by our works, because our works will always fall short. We should, of course, strive to be better and to do better and to ensure that what we do—as my old Jesuit teachers would say—is for the greater glory of God.
If you’ve accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, it’s Good News. Don’t be troubled. You are going to fall short, no matter what you do. But that’s OK. Christ already paid your debt.