The maturity that faith demands

Feb. 10, 2020
Sister Maria Catherine Toon, OP
 
Both the first and second reading this Sunday wax eloquent about the wisdom that God offers his people. It eludes the power-hungry and even those who govern us (1 Corinthians 2:6). God offers wisdom to the spiritually “mature.” By Paul’s definition mature means those who put on the mind of Christ to see the world through the lens of his Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10).
 
Throughout church history God asks saints and prophets to do strange things that seem ludicrous to the rest of the world. He gives commands like the following: Leave your family and everything you have ever known and emigrate to another country where you will be utterly different from everyone else, but I will provide for you (Abraham); dig in the dirt and drink the water even though there is no stream (St. Bernadette); or go tell your religious superior that even though the community offered Masses and prayers for a deceased sister, those graces have not been applied to her and other prayers and sacrifices need to be made (St. Faustina). In his relationships with the prophets and the saints, God claims repeatedly, that “my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8). He calls us to “trust in the Lord” with all our hearts and not to “lean on your own understanding. In all [our] ways acknowledge him, and he will make [our] paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6). This is the path of spiritual maturity – to trust in God’s ways, rather than our own.
 
With radical and total trust, God offers the saints (and us) a knowledge that requires a mature faith. Referencing the catechism and Scripture, Sister Athanasius writes in “Echoing the Mystery” that, “faith is more certain than all human knowledge” (108). Exercising faith is what matures us in seeing the world through Jesus’ eyes. He sets a high bar in the Beatitudes to sharpen and purify the faith of his listeners. In the Gospel reading for today, he makes it clear that Christians must excel in virtue beyond the letter of the law. Christ calls us to purify our intentions in serving him and in examining our actions. Considering recent scandalizing headlines about officials within the church, Christians are called to be above reproach all the more. Our example matters.
 
God’s wisdom takes us further into our own hearts and the hearts of our neighbors. Obeying the commandments is not just about refraining from sin, like killing others, but also deep, interior self-reflection – what is behind my sin? When God is displeased with our actions and the way we make decisions, he often does not clarify our discernment. Consider: Do I need to ask forgiveness from God for anything, before I make this major decision? Is this a way he is calling me to deeper maturity in faith? It is in the face of the nitty-gritty self-examination that God shows us his will for us, which may not be what we want. But acknowledging his will and following it is what brings us to greater clarity and the maturity that faith demands.
 
Sister Maria is a perpetually professed member of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist.