"Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone."
Titus
Saint Paul is a master at explaining the core and essence of our Christian Faith. He presents it so well. And of course, what he is recommending to us is very much based on his own experience of being converted to Christ on the road to Damascus. Paul was a Pharisee who followed the strict rules and laws of his order. What he discovered on the road to Damascus was that the saving action of Grace, which is a gift, has nothing to do with our own personal attempts at saving ourselves through the performance of righteous actions motivated by self-justification.
We've all read many conversion stories. Perhaps you have one of your own. Certainly Paul's conversion is the one that is most familiar to us. St. Augustine, in the book on his confessions, is certainly another classic witness to conversion. Whether these conversion stories are elegantly written and passed down from generation to generation, or whether, like most of us, are stories that will eventually be lost, the message in all of them are the same. That message is that the Grace that led to the conversion is a gift from God. It is a gift that is present at all times, but it is a gift that awakens us to a new reality as we relinquish or surrender our tight grip on "self". This is the message that Saint Paul is trying to convey in his letter to Titus.
"For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another."
What he is saying is that at one point we were all filled with nothing but "self" concern, slaves to various passions and pleasures. We possessed malice and envy, often hating one another. Although Grace is present, it is these selfish preoccupations that prevent us from realizing it.
"But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."
The journey away from "self"; self concern, self preoccupation; is a difficult one, and for some, a long journey. There is just so much in this life that is competing for our attention. We all struggle with this reality, and probably the struggle will never to fully over. However, those of us who have been awakened to God's presence, God's love, know unquestionably that Grace will lead us to our ultimate destiny and purpose for being. The road there is through acts of generous self-giving. That's why Paul starts off his reading with an exhortation to be ready for every generous act. Obedience is an act of surrender of "self" in our movement to the Absolute. "Speak evil of no one, avoid quarreling, be gentle, show courtesy to everyone."
Our struggle with "self", whether it be selfishness or self-preoccupation, is countered with acts of love and generosity towards others. It is the royal road, not only emphasized over and over again by our Christian teaching, but by the teachings of all of the world's religions.
No comments:
Post a Comment