A reporter once asked Mother Teresa as she began her mission to the poor in Calcutta if she thought her work would be successful. She responded, “Young man, the Lord doesn’t call me to be successful. He calls me to be faithful.” Our Lord calls us in exactly the same way. He knows that we all miss the mark occasionally, and when we do, he is not interested in dragging us through the mud. If we have put our faith in him and we are doing are best, we are not going to be condemned.
Although it sounds so basic, this can still be a hard statement to accept. We are so accustomed to being almost perfectionists in every area of life that we become legalistic about our walk with God. We hear only the “shoulds” and “should nots,” and we can forget that we are in a love relationship with the living God. Certainly there’s no question that living an authentic Christian life is a daunting task. We are called to be holy, but God never told us to carry needless fear and anxiety.
The truth is, we can’t possibly begin to conceive of how much God loves us. Our Lord tells us that he and his Father are always at work (John 5:17). And the work they are doing is all for us; it’s about giving us every opportunity to spend eternity with them. It’s about keeping us in the grace of the Holy Spirit, and offering us forgiveness and reconciliation when we fail. It’s not about spotting our weak points and making us miserable. That’s the devil’s job, not God’s.
And so do we feel confident in God’s love for us. Are we confident and secure in it? Or are we afraid that we don’t measure up? As we approach Holy Week we should remind ourselves that God wants what is best for us and that he will see us through every storm. The readings from the past few weeks have told us never to doubt God’s fidelity. And we must always bear in mind Our Lord’s own words to us: “Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
Dum Tacet Clamat 