A question we all might ask ourselves; Have we reached the pinnacle of our call?

A question we all might ask ourselves; Have we reached the pinnacle of our call?

The success of any struggle in life depends upon how far we will go without allowing disruptions or disappointments interfere with our desire to please God.  

Perhaps looking at the theological virtues of faith,  hope, and love might give us a clearer path to arrive at our attempt to find success for holiness.  C.S.Lewis in describing them may put a realistic approach to finding the needed process of understanding the way we must approach them.

Using his writing on ”Mere Christianity” we shall begin with Charity as he places the three in his book.  “First, the meaning  of the word.  Charity now means simply what used to be called alms - that is, giving to the poor.  Originally it had a much wider meaning.  You can see how it got the modern sense.  If a man has charity, giving to the poor is one of the most obvious things he does, and so people came to talk as if that were the whole of charity.  (Ch. 9).

In today’s society there are so many negative attributes that have become common that most people may see them as the way to live without adhering to moral and positive attitudes towards others.  C. S. Lewis also describes these intentional standards from the second World War Germany; “The Germans, perhaps, at first ill-treated the Jews because they hated them:  afterwards they hated them much more because they had ill-treated them.  THe more cruel you are, the more you will hate; and the more you hate, the more cruel you will become - and so on in a vicious circle forever.”  (Cont. ch 9).

Should we be surprised at the same scenario occurring all over in cities especially on college campuses due to the attack on Israel October 7, 2023?  Do we see a let-up in the minds of once decent living students and parents who now are reacting the same way the Germans of the Third Reich did in the 1940’s?

On the whole, God’s love for us is a much safer subject to think about than our love for him.  Nobody can always have devout feelings: and even if we could, feelings are not what God principally cares about.  Christian Love, either towards God or towards man, is an affair of the will.  If we are trying to do his will we are obeying the commandment, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,”   He will give us feelings of love if he pleases.  We cannot create for ourselves, and we must not demand them as right.  But the great thing to remember is that, though our feelings come and go, his love for us does not. “  (cont ch 9).

A sense of fairness and good-will towards our neighbor is essential in producing a charitable attitude also for each of us and may assist our reaching our pinnacle thrust towards holiness.  Without that our destiny is bound to collapse.

The second virtue is Hope and it fits perfectly in our discussion here.  “Hope means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism of wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do.  It doesn't mean we are to leave the present world as it is.  Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in: aim at earth and you will get neither.  It seems a strange rule, but something like it can be seen at work in other matters.   Most of us find it very difficult to want heaven at all - except insofar as heaven means meeting our friends who have died.  When the real want for heaven is present in us, we do not recognize it.  Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world.  There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise.  There is no need to be worried by facetious people who try to make the Christian hope of heaven ridiculous by saying they do not want to spend eternity playing harps.  The answer to such people is that if they cannot understand books written for grown-ups (bible included) that they should not talk about them.”   (Ch 10 Mere Christianity). 

Faith is perhaps the one virtue that confronts our ability to believe that with this attribute we can conquer all obstacles in life.  Faith seems to be used by Christians in two senses or on two levels.  In the first sense it mens simply belief. - accepting or regarding as true the doctrines of Christianity.  If the human mind once accepts a thing as true it will automatically go on regarding it as true until some real reason for reconsidering it turns up.  In the second sense the words leave it to God can be misunderstood, but they must stay for the moment.  The sense in which a Christian leaves it to God is that he puts his trust in Christ.   (Mere Christianity chs 11 & 12).  

I must relate here the first moment that my faith was actually tried without my realizing it until it unfolded before me.  Preparing to preach on one particular Sunday morning, I got up and prepared my usual morning rituals while remembering what my homily was about.  I always prepared myself mentally and read the readings for the Mass and never had a problem.  I never wrote my homilies but was well prepared.  This Sunday morning was different.  I couldn’t remember what my teaching was about; never happened before in over 24 years of preaching almost every Sunday.  All the way to the parish I was attached to my mind and kept pleading with the Lord to give me some indication to stir my mind and remember the homily I thought I was prepared to deliver.  When the pastor came into the sacristy he smiled and asked me what the theme was.  When I told him I couldn’t remember, he was flabbergasted saying he wouldn’t dare go out there not knowing what to say.  After I read the gospel I walked to the center if the sanctuary picked up the microphone thinking here goes nothing.   The words just flowed and after sitting down beside the pastor his words did a good job.  I never knew what I said.  After returning home I walked in my house, looked up as if speaking to God and said, “What are you doing to me?”  The words clear and very succinct were, “You’re always talking about faith - today I tested yours.”

That’s faith in the greater sense as C.S. Lewis mentioned.   Perhaps I reached my pinnacle with the grace of the Holy Spirit.  He did not leave me hanging and instilled a trust that I never realized was always there. 

Ralph B. Hathaway