“Faith Will Not Save You from Your Life” by Colleen O’Sullivan
Heed me, O Lord, and listen to what my adversaries say. Must good be repaid with evil that they should dig a pit to take my life? Remember that I stood before you to speak in their behalf, to turn away your wrath from them. (Jeremiah 18:19-20)
As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day." (Matthew 20:17-19)
Piety
Father, Mercy, Bob Dufford, S.J.
Father, mercy; Father, hear me. Why have you gone from me?
Broken, humbled, waiting, hopeful, Father, return to me.
Study
“Faith will not save you from your life.” Those words spoken in a homily during a retreat a few years ago have stayed with me ever since. Jeremiah is discovering the truth of this statement in our first reading today. He has great faith in the God who has called him to the role of prophet, and he has been obedient to that call. Yet here we find him seemingly shocked that his faithful service has earned him enemies. In fact, people who don’t want to hear the truth about themselves are conspiring to use the prophet’s own words against him and to throw Jeremiah into a pit and leave him there to die. And the prophet wonders, where is God now? Remember, Lord, I have done what you asked and don’t deserve this. God is less than a hair’s breadth away, journeying with Jeremiah through every moment of fear and consternation. That is what God promises us – God’s constant, caring, compassionate, loving presence. Even God has enemies, so if we choose to align ourselves with God, why should we expect anything different? When being faithful gets tough, we have the solace of knowing that, as God’s friends, we are on the right side.
“Faith will not save you from your life.” No one would ever accuse Jesus of being anything but faithful. He spends considerable amounts of time in prayer ascertaining the will of his Father. Jesus knows his life is soon going to come to an ugly end. His enemies are encircling him ever more closely. As Jesus and his Twelve disciples slowly make their way to Jerusalem, he tells his friends for the third time what is going to happen to him. He is desperately trying to prepare them. The unbelievable response he gets is a query from James’ and John’s mother: Can my boys have the seats of honor on either side of you in your Kingdom? Jesus asks James and John if they can drink of the same cup that he will. They are sure that will be no problem. Good, Jesus replies, because ultimately you will. Faithfulness will not save Jesus from his death on the Cross, nor will it spare any of the Twelve from what each will have to endure for spreading the Good News after Jesus is gone.
Action
“Faith will not save you from your life.” That applies to you and me as well. If we are truly committed Christians, we, too, inevitably will be asked to drink of the same cup as Jesus. Yes, the Lord will walk beside us, perhaps even carry us part of the way, but we will nonetheless be given crosses to carry in our arms. The difference between our two Scripture readings today seems to me to be the way in which we choose to do that. Jeremiah complains bitterly and practically demands that God make his enemies cease and desist. Jesus prays to his Father and accepts his Father’s will. He puts up no resistance to being seized, tortured and ultimately crucified.
When you are praying today, take time to reflect on the crosses you have been asked to carry in this life and how you have chosen to do that. Then share this with Jesus.
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