Daily Reflection Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time

On this Juneteenth we have two very famous readings in our liturgy. The first, from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians at the beginning of chapter 6, contains his memorable, “Now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation.” We are often encouraged today to “stay in the now” and to take things “one day at a time.” But behind the catchy phrases is a profound truth that the Apostle reveals in this verse. We do actually live only in the now. It truly is all that we have. The past is over and forever done and fixed. It will never change (although how we look at it, how we understand it, will) and must simply be accepted and dealt with, with God’s grace. Tomorrow is forever unknown and inaccessible to us. As Jesus tells us in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, do not worry about tomorrow, it will take care of itself.

Sören Kierkegaard said, “Cowardice hides behind the crutch it likes best, the crutch of time. But the eternal refrain of decision is: ‘Today, today!’” We can only decide to act now, we cannot decide to act later for that is merely procrastination and idleness. Those who practice the attitude of mañana, discover eventually that tomorrow never comes and we find ourselves on our deathbeds having never made the all-important decision to surrender our wills to the will of God. As Paul warns us, “Do not receive the grace of God in vain.” How often have we found that so many things we kept putting off out of fear, when we finally found the strength to do them were actually far less onerous than our fearful imaginings had made them. Act now; do it now. “Take courage for I have overcome the world!”

Today and for the next few days as we follow the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says several things that are more often known for how little we actually embrace or believe them. “Offer no resistance to one who is evil,” is certainly one of these. It is remarkable how so many people are willing to take other teachings of Jesus literally and absolutely (such as his teachings on divorce) yet tend to argue this one and others like it (“Love your enemies. Do good to those who persecute you.”) away or simply ignore them. “If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic, hand him your cloak as well,” and “Give to whoever begs from you,” are certainly also among the teachings of Jesus known more in the breach than in obedience.

What these teachings of Jesus show us is that following Jesus is not exactly a walk in the woods. It is a radical dedication that radically (meaning at the roots) challenges everything we think we know or take for granted. There is nothing casual or ordinary about the decision to follow Jesus. There is nothing that is not also radically affected by that decision. It is meant to change everything about us, from our behaviors to our attitudes to our understandings and awareness. As Paul said in 2Cor 5:17, “Therefore if anyone be in Christ, they are a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Consequently, most never really make that radical decision because we are simply afraid that it is altogether too much, that it will literally overwhelm us for we are so weak and so very much in fear that we do not have that strength. But the truth is that no one has that strength. No one has that courage and ability. We are all totally lost, simply poor sinners. That is precisely the point, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!” (Rom 5:8-10) God will give us everything we need to make that radical decision and we “shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.” God will do it all for us if we just let him, if we just say yes. We can do nothing on our own but with God, all things are possible. As Jesus promises us when we take on his yoke, “You will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden light.” Will we dare ourselves to actually believe that? If we could, then as the prophecy of Zecharia promised, God will “set us free from the hands of our [spiritual] enemies, free to worship him without fear, holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.”

Now is the favorable time; now is the day of salvation!