Fr. Don's Daily Reflection - October 27, 2024
Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from You.”
Father Godfrey Diekmann OSB (1908-2002) was fond of summarizing Christian life in terms from early Christianity: "Christian, remember your dignity." In other words, Christian, remember your baptism; remember what you have become by union with Christ in baptism. Remember that you are sons and daughters of God, not simply poor human wretches who must strain every muscle to be decent human beings.
You are the body of Christ, members of a body of which Christ is the head. Or, put otherwise: Christ is the vine and we are the branches. God became human that we might become divine; that is another variation on this that Father Godfrey was also fond of quoting. Even without a constant emotional experience of this truth, can't we help ourselves to more generous and joyous living by remembering it?
All this might sound awfully noble and ideal, but Christian belief is that human life has been made even more wonderful by Christ than it is by its creation. Good has become better! Isn't something similar operative or effective in ordinary human life when we hold ourselves to a certain standard because we value and respect, say, our family, our position, an organization or group to which we belong?
Faith often requires we live by and hold beliefs that are not empirically verifiable. This is one of them. Couldn't it help us go out of the door in a better frame of mind, with more self-respect, especially in times when everything seems so cheap, empty, even sordid? "Christian, remember your dignity. Remember that you have been adopted by God as a daughter, a son."
Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”
