One of the prayers I begin my day with is Padre Pio’s, the Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I have been praying it daily for years for both myself and others. It begins with the words, “O Jesus, full of grace and charity, victim for sinners…”. “Victim” for sinners, and yet, full of “grace and charity”!
In it I ask for the graces for myself and others to know and surrender to the will of God. Over the past few days I have found myself, in addition to my usual specific graces, praying to be “full of grace and charity”. It is difficult in these times to live in His grace and have charity for all.
I, like millions of others, have found myself frustrated by the election and the reality of what is sure to come with the new administration concerning abortion and many other issues. I am angry with the extreme left who seem to be destroying all we value as good, our freedoms, and even our history whose mistakes we seem to be now repeating. To be honest, I am also frustrated with many who refuse to believe anyone who supports Trump could be violent. Then of course, there is COVID to deal with.
So much going on!
It struck me in prayer that the times are probably, in many ways, not so different than they were in the days of Jesus.
There were many different ideologies at that time. The Roman government who held control with the tranny of Herod; the zealots who advocated violence to free the Jewish people from the Roman oppression. The Sadducees who compromised with the Romans to keep their wealth and power, and of course the Pharisees who although following their faith felt Jesus did not uphold the law. They all thought their way was the right way, then Jesus came and showed a new way. The way of selfless love.
In the face of all the craziness he manifested and challenged people to love, and although many had experienced Him and His miracles, many called for His death, Judas betrayed Him, and the apostles fled. At the foot of the cross clinging to love we only find John and the Mary’s.
I admit it, in recent days I have allowed myself to get caught up in all that has been happening in our country instead of keeping my eyes on Jesus who shows us the way of peace even amid all the chaos. I have instead, placed my eyes on the things of the world instead of the things of heaven allowing them to sweep me away and distract me from what I really should be doing. My pride, my desire to be right, my fear of being wronged), I can go on and on), have blinded me to His love. This is no more surprising than the denial that some people who support Trump could get violent.
Every one of us is a sinner in need of His mercy, and if we forget that we are sure to get swept away into “self”. Of course this does not mean we should not engage in our world, but what it does mean for me is that my actions should not flow from my emotions but from my life of prayer grounded in the truth of Jesus Christ. That is the way people like Maximillian Kolbe, Alfred Delp, SJ and the Polish priest, Jerzy Popiełuszko lived in their difficult times. That is the way they had the grace and charity to be martyrs and continue to love amid the hatred around them
For sure it is not easy. I must make a conscious decision to stay away from certain things, to not listen or respond. I must die to my “self” daily, sometimes minute by minute, second by second, and choose Christ. I don’t always succeed, so, I know I must spend much more time in prayer with Jesus, asking more and more to be “full of grace and charity” in order to reflect His love.
