Fr. Frank Majka, SJ – The Bridge

No Fine Print

As a TV ad is coming to an end, you’ll often see, at the bottom of the screen, something like 5 to 10 lines of very small type, virtually impossible to read. That’s the fine print that tells you the offer or product you’ve just heard about comes with all sorts of disclaimers and warnings. Suddenly you suspect that this “great deal” may not be so great after all.

When it comes to Jesus, though, there’s no fine print. When he acknowledges that he is the Messiah, he also says up front that he will be turned over to the Gentiles who will kill him. He also tells his disciples that if they want to follow him, they’ll need to take up their crosses every day. Finally, he makes it clear that if people have hated him, they’ll hate his followers as well. It’s all out there. No hidden details.

Deep down, of course, we’d prefer that being a Christian would be happy and pleasant. Just as Peter wanted Jesus to avoid saying that the Messiah would suffer and die, we don’t want to think of what we might have to give up or go through if we want to be Jesus’ disciples. But even if our suffering may not be dramatic or catastrophic, it will still be something we’d rather avoid.

Christ does offer us the fullness of life right now and for eternity; but he knows — and he won’t let us forget — that only those who are willing, with God’s grace, to pay the price will be able to possess it. And he’s as straightforwardly honest about that as a person can be.

Dialogue

Being able to listen and talk is important in these times when we need good communication and dialogue — in the church, in politics, between nations and within families. Today there seem to be far more monologues and rants than serious dialogues, so we end up in shouting matches that produce plenty of heat but not much light.

If we’re serious about dialogue, we need to communicate with people who don’t see things the way we do. We need to be open to the possibility that, since we each view things from our own point of view, maybe we can learn something from what other people see from theirs.

We should also listen to our hearts, our heads and the lessons of our own experiences (both the good and the bad experiences). By doing that, we have a surer grasp on our own perspectives and the unique contributions we can respectfully bring to a conversation.

Finally, if we are Christians, we should listen to Jesus, who asks that we love not just those who disagree with us, but even our enemies. He certainly wants us to listen and speak to others as brothers and sisters even if we don’t see eye to eye with them.

Jesus once met a man who was deaf and mute. First he opened his ears and gave him the ability to listen; then he loosed his tongue and made him able to speak. Maybe he will bring healing to our own hearing and speaking.

For in our day, when it seems everybody is talking, few are listening and the volume keeps going up, that would be a gift very much worth praying for.

What “Good People” Can Miss

In Jesus’ time, the Pharisees were, one might say, the professional good people. Carefully observing the Law in even the littlest things, they worked hard to be good and, perhaps more importantly, to be recognized as good.

They also seemed always on the lookout to catch Jesus saying or doing something they could use against him, even when they invited him to dinner; and they criticized his disciples about things they did, like eating with tax collectors, picking wheat on the Sabbath or not engaging in rigorous fasting.

Jesus used some harsh words about the Pharisees because they seemed to have lost the awareness that God is generous, loving, patient and forgiving. So, Jesus routinely challenged their narrow view of God and their judgmental attitude towards others.

And Jesus challenges the ways that we, too, can behave like Pharisees, trying to convince ourselves and others that we are better because we go to church often or know a lot of facts about our faith.

Like the Pharisees, we, too, can miss the fact that true religion and true goodness are not about appearing to be pious or judging others harshly. They are about honestly admitting our need for God’s mercy and showing concern for those who are poor, suffering, marginalized or exploited. (Matthew 25)

Food that Nourishes and Heals

The United States government has a whole department, the F.D.A., whose job is to make sure that the food, drink and medicine we put in our bodies are good for us and won’t hurt us.

Many Christians believe that the Eucharist is also food and drink and medicine — not the kind a government lab can analyze but Christ’s own real and sacramental Body and Blood given for the soul’s nourishment and healing and which gives life that lasts forever. (John’s gospel, chapter 6)

They believe that the Eucharist is effective not because we change it into ourselves as we do when we consume everyday food, drink, and medicine. Just the reverse. They believe the Eucharist changes us into the One we receive, namely, Christ. (St. Augustine made this point emphatically in his preaching and writing.)

So, every time we take the Host or drink from the Cup, we are in fact declaring our desire to be changed into the Lord, both as individuals and as communities. We receive the Eucharist so that, individually and communally, we may more truly be what God intends us to be, namely, the Body of Christ, carrying on the work that Jesus began long ago — to make the world more like the Kingdom of God.

Thus, ultimately, the Eucharist becomes true and lasting food, drink, and medicine not just for us but for the world.

Eternity Life

Jesus said that if a person believes, he or she has eternal life (John, chapter 6). I always took this to mean that if I believed in Christ (and lived a good life, of course), I would be going to Heaven after I died.

Later I discovered that the Kingdom of God was something that started here on earth right now, an especially strong theological insight in last century’s church social teaching. But I never put “Kingdom of God” and “eternal life” together.

Then I learned that though Matthew, Mark and Luke talk about the Kingdom and John speaks of eternal life, all four are talking about the same thing. “Kingdom of God” and “eternal life” are two names for one reality.

If that is the case, then, for those who believe — who live as friends of Jesus and try to love others as he did — eternal life, like the Kingdom of God, begins here and now. Thus, Jesus says the believer “has” (not “will have”) eternal life. Eternal life begins here and goes on forever.

I find it challenging and consoling to think that I can share in eternal life even before I die. It means that how I live today should bear witness to the eternal life/Kingdom of God that exists here and now. It also means that, no matter how difficult things may be, I am already living with God — something which, through his grace above all, I trust will go on forever.