Fr. Don's Daily Reflection - July 11, 2024
Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from you.”
Feast of St Benedict
“What a friend we have in Jesus.” (My unchurched father in his old age and nearly deaf could be surprised at times alone in his house singing “what a pal we have in Jesus,” a variation probably more due to failing memory than a desire to be hip.) Just hearing that line from an old-time hymn might strike some Christians as too chummy or simply undignified. Churchgoing people get so used to the formal language of the service that “what a friend we have in Jesus” seems a bit like proclaiming sweet-nothings to a date in a public auditorium.
Yet Scripture itself warrants the language of friendship. In John 15, Jesus talks about laying down his life for his friends. “You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer speak of you as slaves. Instead, I call you friends, since I have made known to you all that I heard from my Father.”
Revealing ourselves to another, opening our hearts to another, is the sure sign of friendship, a necessary step in fostering it. In turn Christians have every right to turn to Jesus in times of great need or turmoil. Moments of exhilarating joy or crushing sadness drive us to open up to a friend for comfort and understanding. Similarly, why shouldn't we open ourselves to the Lord in such times?
In any budding relationship we encourage intimacy by a willingness to open up, to risk self-revelation. Jesus says he has made known to us all that the Father has told him. We have every reason to think: “What a friend we have in Jesus.” Or, as Saint Benedict writes to his followers: "Let them prefer nothing whatever to Christ, and may he bring us all together to everlasting life." (The Rule of Benedict, chapter 72.)
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!”
Reply to Fr. Don at: DTalafous@csbsju.edu
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