This weekend at Mass the second reading
is from St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Paul addresses an issue that is
either very appropriate for some people, or I suspect soon will be very
appropriate for most of us. He talks about being spiritually content while
being physically destitute and deprived.
Paul says, “I know how to live in humble
circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance….I have learned the
secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of
being in need.” Then Paul offers the key sentence: “I can do all things in him
(Jesus) who strengthens me.”
Paul did not fall for the seductive lie
that his worth is based on his wealth. He knew his real worth as a person was
based on his relationship with Christ. And whether his stomach was stuffed with
food or grumbling with hunger, whether he was sleeping on a soft bed in mansion
or on a rock under a bridge, he remained joyful and peaceful because he was
rich in the things that really matter: faith, hope, and love.
Paul had learned the secret of
acceptance. He was spiritually mature enough to know that bad thing inevitably
happen during life, and he was able to accept it when these bad things happened
to him.
Modern Americans, on the other hand, are
often incapable of accepting even the slightest problem. How many times have
you seen someone throw an absolute hissy fit over the most trivial matter? The
well-dressed lady with the new BMW who I recently saw screaming at the
befuddled Dunkin’ Donuts counter girl comes to mind. (On the other hand, maybe
getting only three sugars in your coffee when you ordered four is indeed the
end of the world.)
Let’s just take a step back for a moment
and consider that a typical lower-middle-class American family today has far
more luxury and conveniences than the greatest emperors of St. Paul’s day. You
don’t think so? How many refrigerators and air conditioners did Caesar own? Did
he have a Stop & Shop down the street from his palace with 8 gazillion
selections of food? How did Caesar communicate with people on the other side of
the continent? (Hint: it wasn’t email, text messages, or Facebook.) What did he
do if he had an impacted wisdom tooth, an eye infection, or a ruptured
appendix? He suffered and often died, that’s what he did. Man, we have it
pretty darn good these days.
The reason I suspect Paul’s message soon
will be very appropriate for most of us, is because I’ve been thinking lately
that maybe we as a society have passed our prosperity peak and are beginning a
subtle but definite downhill slide.
At some point our national debt of 20
Trillion dollars is going to come back to bite us. And it doesn’t take much to
spook the financial markets and throw the world economy into a tailspin. I hope
I’m wrong, but I’ve got a funny feeling the bubble just might be ready to
burst.
And if it does, and if we suddenly go
from screaming at coffee counter girls to scrounging for enough food to keep
from starving, I wonder how we Americans, so unfamiliar with St. Paul’s concept
of acceptance, will deal with it. I don’t think it’s going to be a very pretty
sight.
The only advice I can offer is this: be
prepared. Be prepared in a physical sense to deal with hard times, if and when
they come. And more importantly, be prepared in a spiritual sense. Put Paul’s
lessons into action. Put your faith in Christ and trust that He will take care
of you no matter what. Open your heart and receive the serenity and joy the
Lord truly wishes to give you.
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