Let's Live

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness; joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

The Peace Prayer above, often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, is one of my favorites, because it is filled with reminders I need daily. What human is inclined to understand before they are understood, to love more than they feel loved, or die to self? Our original sin-filled lives don't lean toward those things by nature. We have to come to those things by knowing and accepting the love of Jesus. From there, being filled ourselves with His love, we have to constantly stay in communion with our Lord so we can love as we are loved. This is a lifelong, refining process I don't believe we can ever simply master.

Jesus did things much differently in His time walking the earth. He healed, dined with outcasts, challenged the leadership, and loved those who said yes to following Him in all circumstances, no matter who they were. He caused so much of a stir that he changed the trajectory of the Roman Empire. He was crucified for how different He made things. He established the Christian faith so many still practice today.

Living a Christian life, and further a Catholic life, makes us look different as well. We go against the grain, we are opposed by the worldly view of living, and we look crazy to people who don't understand. Jesus understands that difficulty, because He lived it too, but He did not promise ease in being different. The Gospel of St. Matthew even says, "For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it."

We will experience push back. We will be mocked. In some, less fortunate countries Christians are persecuted to the point of death. I read a story recently in a book called, Beautiful Eucharist. Matthew Kelly wrote about a Priest who visited another country incognito, for his own safety. He was staying in a home, and was awakened to many people in the middle of the night stirring. He asked where they were going, and they told him "to the wall." In the cover of darkness, more than 20 people snuck through the forest, walking miles, to a wall where a small monstrance holding the Eucharist was kept behind a brick. The people fell to their knees before it, and stayed in silent prayer for a long while. This convicted the Priest to reveal his true identity to them, and he said their first Mass in ten years the next night.

We are free to worship here, but we are still often silenced, mocked, or treated unfairly. Regardless, we are called by the One who gave His life for ours to deny ourselves, take up our crosses daily, and follow Him (Luke 9:23, Mark 8:34). Reading that we are asked to take up our cross in this privileged era of time sounds easy enough. We've heard that scripture many times, can probably recite it, and agree that we need to deny ourselves, or die to ourselves, and take up our crosses to follow Jesus. But I have a question.

How are we dying to self and taking up our crosses if we are hiding who we are, and who Jesus is? Putting others first, loving as selflessly as possible, and working on humility are fantastic endeavors that, hopefully, we all will be working on our entire lives. I don't think it ends there though. How about how we share our faith?

Are we truly and totally putting our faith into practice? When someone uses the Lord's name in vain, do we let them know we find that offensive? When people mock Jesus, Mary or Christianity, are we standing up for our faith in a tactful and loving way? Are we sharing our faith, living liturgically so all can see, and talking about the Source of the boundless love, peace, and joy we are graced with, through Jesus?

I can say I'm doing those things, but not with full abandon, and not every single time. If we want to change the world and set the world on fire with the love of God, we have to live it out every day, at every opportunity. Will you join me?

Let's make prayer and scripture reading a daily habit so we are prepared for spiritual battle. Let's share that prayer or saint quote on social media without caring who might turn their nose up at it. Let's pray when we're at a meal table, even if it's out in public. Let's love and let people know where that love comes from, and how they can get it too.

We should be living differently, because we are loved differently. That love is for everyone, but how can they know it unless they see its effect in our actions and lives? We are not made for this world, we are just passing through here, and His opinion of us is the only one that matters. Let's live that out!