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Letters Thirtieth Sunday
in Ordinary Time |
The Catholic Telegraph
October 26, 2001This reading brings us to the last part of II Timothy. The author, a senior apostle, is encouraging his younger colleague by offering him the image of Paul in the last phase of his life. The author uses bits of information gathered from an older tradition to put together the portrait of Paul facing the conclusion of his ministry and reflecting on the meaning of what was happening to him.
The reading is in two parts. In the first part, we have general reflections from the missionary on the final stage of life in which he now finds himself. His life has proven to be a sacrifice, a liquid poured out to honor God. It has been like an athletic contest, a race in which he has contended well and whose finish line he is now crossing. He can rightly expect the laurel crown that athletes received as a trophy. The crown would not be awarded by a human judge, but by the Lord. The same crown will be given to all those who have looked for the action of the Lord in their lives and their world. The main claim to victory that Paul expresses is that he has kept the faith. He has been tenacious and resolute in maintaining his relationship with the Lord. That’s what constitutes the worth of his life.
The second part of the reading deals with some of the details of the situation that Paul found himself in. There had been a court hearing and nobody was there to help him. Yet the Lord had helped him to conduct himself in a way that was beneficial to the gospel. He was saved from the immediate threat ("the lion’s mouth," a quote from Psalm 22). These details (abandonment by friends, prayer for the forgiveness of those who have done harm, the allusion to the psalm that Jesus prayed on the cross) seem to suggest that Paul saw his situation as a parallel with the sacrifice of Jesus. These reflections are followed by an expression of final confidence, of conviction that he would be brought at last to the glory of God’s heavenly kingdom.
The verses that constitute this reading are important not only because of what they might tell us about the last events of Paul’s life, nor because of the motives for encouragement that they might offer to a young church leader. They also offer challenge and enrichment to every Christian believer.
They remind us, first of all, that our Christian existence involves struggle. The author speaks of competing in a race, of striving for a prize, of being emptied out like a sacrificial offering.
Sometimes believers seem to think that their religious faith demands too much of them. Mass each and every Sunday, sexual restraint, lifetime faithfulness to a marriage commitment, love and concern offered to people who don’t deserve it: these are heavy demands. Did God really mean for it to be this hard?
The struggles of Christian life are not a matter of God’s setting up obstacles for us to overcome, but of our having to make choices from several conflicting itineraries. The Lord offers us options that lead to one goal. The world around us offers different choices that take us in a different direction. Often the world’s choices are more attractive because they yield immediate and comfortable results, while God’s choices seem to require still further expenditure of energy, still further postponement of satisfaction. God’s road seems to run uphill a lot. The reason it seems that way is not because God wants to make things hard for us, but because our views and values are skewed. We don’t fully understand what God has in mind for us and so following His directions seems difficult. We end up competing with ourselves.
These verses also challenge us to give some thought to what constitutes the value of our life. Our reading shows us Paul finding reassurance in the fact that he has "kept the faith," i.e., that he has remained consistently in relationship with Christ Jesus, that he has persisted in carrying out the mission that had been entrusted to him.
All of us need to keep asking ourselves where our values lie. What is important to me? What is significant in my human existence? What criteria do I use to make the choices I make? We need to ask ourselves these questions for several reasons. One is because it is so easy to deceive ourselves, to think we are acting out of generous and godly motives when, in reality, we’re really being selfish. Another is because the world around us has a significant agenda of its own that is constantly being marketed to us and that we can buy into almost without realizing it. Still another is because we are skilled in minimalism, crafty about settling for the smallest expenditure of effort that will allow us to maintain our relationship with the Lord. As a result, our life can easily degenerate into an ongoing bargaining session with God instead of a generous sacrificial outpouring of ourselves.
When we hear Paul saying, "I have kept the faith," it’s almost as if he is suggesting an epitaph for himself. It might be interesting to ask ourselves to what extent that same epitaph would be appropriate for us.
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Conversation Questions
In what way does my life involve struggle?
When the end of my life comes, what will I be most proud of? Most grateful for?
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