“God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help
in distress. Thus we do not fear, though earth be shaken and mountains quake to
the depths of the sea.” –Psalm 46:2-3
Humans dislike change—we crave stability and continuity. We
become dependent on habits and routines. And there is often a good reason for
this. Yet, change is essential to survival and something that we are constantly
called to do in the Gospel message. When it comes to our spiritual growth, we
need to change; we need to become more Christ-like. As the old saying goes, “no pain, no gain.” Jesus
tells us that our hearts must change to bring us closer to God’s love.
Psalm 46 is directed toward the leader (verse 1). As leaders
of our local Church, these verses remind us to put our hope in God and not to
fear or become discouraged with change. It is and should be part of our natural
movement towards the Lord; “thy will be done,” not our own. In the Psalm, the
word for “shaken” can also be translated as “changed.” As the mountains crumble
and the earth quakes, we who believe are not fearful, but orient our hearts to
be even more present to the Father.
Change is challenging. Some things are so challenging that
we cannot simply “move past”—change does take work. It takes sacrifice or
humility. It can enable us to feel the loss or the emptiness, which also brings
us closer to those who are sick, homeless, addicted, depressed, hungry, or
marginalized; those, as St. Mother Teresa noted, who are “the poorest of the
poor.”
Our Church is facing significant challenges; with that comes
the need for change and modification. With challenges and change also come
opportunities. For us, this includes reaching out to our neighbors through new
evangelization strategies, physical space and geographical changes to
accommodate these new realties and moving on from our “favorite” pastors and
priests. But this enables our Church’s mission of spreading the Good News and
will bring us all closer to the Trinity, as long we open our hearts.
St. John Henry Newman has a wonderful quote: “To live is to
change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.” As sinners, we cannot be perfect, but we can
and should strive for perfection every day. We must want to be saints. Our
actions, words, and tone convey our ability to be the loving presence of Jesus
in our own families, communities, schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods. Mercy and forgiveness also require change,
which can be immensely difficult.
In
Matthew’s Gospel (chapter 18, verse 1-5), Jesus brought over a child and told
the disciples that they need to transform their hearts and become more
childlike—otherwise they will not be able to be with Him for eternity. “Truly I
tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the
kingdom of heaven.” We, too, as baptized disciples, must heed this call to
change our lives and give it over to Him.
The Hebrew
word for change is mûwr—it also means “to alter” or ”to exchange.” By
changing, we are pivoting, moving, and evolving ourselves towards a deeper relationship
with God. Like St. Paul, we “exchange”
our old lives for new ones, giving up our own desires and opening up our hearts
to the reality of Christ and His message of mercy is an important part of being
a believer. We must exchange our personal needs for those of our brothers and
sisters; we must alter our expectations to ensure that we are willing and happy
givers; and we must want to bring the hope of the Gospel to others in and
through ways that we may not understand. That is the beauty of our faith.
Dealing with change and the discomfort it brings gives us an
opportunity to renew our spiritual lives, through prayer and acts of corporal
and spiritual mercy. We must shed our old selves for the way of the Cross, and
carry it with us in a loving and helpful manner, like Simon of Cyrene.
Let us pray for the strength to welcome and be open to the
changes in our lives, in our communities, in our dioceses, across the Universal
Church, and indeed the whole world. Let us long for the change that brings us
closer to the Lord and pray for the peace and unity which is so often missing
in our time. Pray that we can model the faith and bring more people together in
the love of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
The new
moon, as its name suggests, renews itself;
how marvelous it is in this change,
a beacon to
the hosts on high,
shining in the vault of the heavens!
--Sirach 43:8
Thank your for this reflection!
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