By Fr. Glenn Jones:
You know … we’re all on a search for meaning. We can scarcely fathom that we, like the grass of the field, are here essentially by chance of nature—simply to be born, take in nourishment, and then die. The atheist may believe this, but we Christians sure don’t. Nor does even the atheist need believe so. Whatever our creed, we certainly can have influence upon others around us, and even the world in the “pay-it-forward” hope that good deeds and love of neighbor effect good result in the world.
In the Catholic Mass this Sunday we read Jesus’ parables of the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price (Matthew 13), wealth for which wise buyers gave up all they had in order to purchase. How much more, then, should we devote ourselves wholly to that of eternal value as Jesus alludes to in His parable: the teaching and Word of God.
God—Father and Creator who loves us far beyond our understanding—gives us His Word not to constrain arbitrarily, but to guide into truth and to the salvation that Christ won for us upon the cross. And, as with Adam and Eve in the Garden, He watches as to whether we will choose good or evil … whether we will adhere to the goodness of His will. And we reap accordingly, not only after death but often even in this earthly life.
We all know how easy it is to be led off the good path. Indeed, we encounter temptations to be so daily, and all our lives. And even the most resolute can sometimes fail, time and company wearing us down like water dripping on rock. After all, to give in is easier … quicker. As we heard in our first reading of the Mass, even Solomon (1 Kings), though made wisest of all men by God, was eventually led astray by ungoverned passions…not acting on his knowledge of what is good in God’s eyes, but giving in to idolatry to please his foreign pagan wives.
Thus, we need be attentive to what we read, what we watch, what we constantly view. If we constantly expose ourselves to the bad or the evil, over time we become deadened to it, or begin to see it as the “norm” of life. As the old saying goes: “When you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.”
An example of spiraling toward evil is child pornographers. They don’t become pedophiles overnight, but generally begin with “soft” porn, and then when that no longer thrills, they digress eventually even possibly to abuse. So tragically, hardly a day goes by without yet another arrest of laypeople or clergy for some such offense being in the news.
If we constantly stay in bad company or constantly expose ourselves to evil, it rubs off on us. As with drugs, people rarely begin with something like heroin, but start with softer drugs, and when those no longer thrill sufficiently, go on to stronger stuff. Same with alcoholics. Then we have the many funerals these days of even relatively young people: ODs, cirrhosis, etc.
But this is how evil worms its way into our minds: it cultivates—often gradually—a disregard of the good, and the undisciplined indulgence of our baser sensual nature. If we’re not watchful of ourselves, we’re like the frog, and the world slowly adds heat to boiling us alive. Like in the story of Eve in the Garden, evil whispers in our ears, telling us that forbidden fruit is actually good and will make us happier, stronger, more powerful, more famous, cooler, or whatever. The apple looks sweet, yet is poisonous and kills…and we can lose all.
The solution? The pearl of great price. The treasure in the field. The Word of God in Jesus Christ, and fidelity to Him. As we hear in Proverbs: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight…” This is how we find that true meaning in life we seek: in love of God, love of neighbor.
“Fear of the Lord” is not meant as servile fear, but more to convey the sense of a child loathe to offend a loving Father. And the greatest wisdom is understanding, and following, the Word of God—turning away from those things He teaches are wrong, and embracing those things He teaches are right and good and charitable.
This is why we fast and do spiritual exercises at times: to train ourselves in self-denial in small things, that we may stand steadfast and faithful in bigger things. To build habit and spiritual “muscle memory” to do the good and avoid the bad. As the musician Alice Cooper remarked: “Drinking beer is easy. Trashing your hotel room is easy. But being a Christian, that’s a tough call. That’s real rebellion.”
How much self-denial is enough? How much resistance should we present to the things of the world which are against the way of God?
Well, what is NOT worth giving up for eternal life … existing in the embrace of the pure love which God is? As Jesus says: “For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his [eternal] life? For what can a man give in return for [that] life?” (Mark 8:36-37). Because nothing even remotely compares to that eternal embrace of God. As St. Paul writes: “…no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him…” (1Corinthians 2:9).
So, true discipleship is not a resentful chore where we begrudgingly give up the things because God holds a spiritual counter over us. When we find something of infinite worth, letting go of lesser things isn’t a painful sacrifice; it is a joy of getting closer to obtaining the heart’s desire.
So let us not see in God’s Word and teaching mere arbitrary rules and regulations but rather know they are wisdom and the path to eternal life. The path of love given by Our Father—Our Lord—who is pure love. It’s not an easy path; Jesus warns us: “…the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life…” (Matthew 7:14). But lead to eternal life—lead to meaning and contentment—it does.
Editor’s note: Rev. Glenn Jones is the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and former pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Los Alamos.
