How Dear Is Confidence

by Rev. Richard Barker

Beloved of St. Philip, grace and peace in the Lord’s name! The times we live in are not just edgy but deeply tormented. Violence, drugs, perversion, lawlessness and civil anarchy are widely accepted behavior models. Our dysfunctional political leaders loathe the citizens who elected them. Through the smoke and haze of lawless cities and mangled borders, our natural human confidence falters and dread of the future grows. Through all this noise and claptrap, our loving God speaks to us a word of courage and fortitude. Courage is the giving of self to others even at great price. Fortitude is the strength to bear up when good things and good people are taken from us.

Thus the greatest and most sublime divine gift to humankind was, is and will remain the passion and death of our heavenly father’s only-begotten son who gave his life that sinful human beings might live forever. And so the most Holy Trinity, eternal, absolute and unchanging, bids us to drink from the well of courage and fortitude. And, moreover, to remember that God’s divine laws cannot be assaulted or robbed or murdered or burned down.

Among God’s immutable laws are two which shine with the brightness of the sun: First, nothing meritorious comes without hard work. The second, rather like the first, is this: nothing enduring is won or accomplished without a proportional measure of suffering. Against fear and dread, a divine antidote is given to us. This medicine is humility. To those who hear, let there be no doubt what God’s Spirit is saying to Christians in this generation. “Think again” about your own actions. Purify your own hearts, for the time is growing short. The chief work of the Church in our time is the sanctification of God’s human creatures who are so vulnerable, so tempted and so selfish.

God does not speak to savage treacherous hearts. To the contrary, God speaks to hearts that are gentle, in other words, civilized. A civilized person is aware, sensitive to others and committed to action. To bear abundant fruit in the Lord’s vineyard, therefore, you must be strong in Christ, rock solid in personal holiness and generous in ways so as to astonish godless people, causing them to praise God by their wonderment. God shows you how to give, what to give up and what to hold onto. Rest assured, Our Lord will not stand idly by while his followers are trampled on the world's footpath, broken on the rocks, or impaled on the horns of evil. To the contrary, sacrifice for the sake of God’s Kingdom hastens the fall of evil and preserves one’s life to eternity. [cf. Jn 12:25]

How dear is confidence to the one who loses it! Supernatural confidence is the divinely inspired assurance and conviction of virtuous human faith. When Peter confesses, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” [Mt 16:16], Jesus expresses delight with his understanding, and confides to Peter the source of his confidence: “Blessed are you. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” [Mt 16:17]Thus the empire of hatred and bitterness is destined to fall. In the meantime, Our Lord desires that his example of unshakable trust, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!” [Lk 23:46], be our very own. In this way, our human hearts are liberated to produce a harvest of grace and reconciliation. The spiritual journey is a lifelong pilgrimage. We are always in the process of arriving! Indeed, it would be quite improper for any human being ever to announce about himself, regarding love and sacrifice, I have arrived. But one can say of the mysteries of faith, I see.

May your name and your good deeds be written in God’s Book of Life. May the saints and angels watch over you and protect you. Pray for our military men and women! Sincerely in the hearts of Jesus and Mary. Your pastor, Reverend Richard Barker.
+++