FROM THE PASTOR’S DESK
Dear St. Mary’s Parishioners:
In our modern culture we value control. It’s intertwined in the very DNA of our nation’s history, founded upon a rebellion against a colonial power an ocean away. The human person is endowed with “inalienable rights” from above, free from external unjust strains to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” (Cf. Declaration of Independence). This founding ethos has arguably produced the most prosperous, wealthiest, and strongest country that has ever existed. Tens of millions have come here in our relatively short history as a nation to realize the dream our mother countries could never give us, my Filipino family being among them.
Life here gives us beautiful control over how to best live our lives. Yet what has given us historic prosperity, is precisely what must be relinquished theologically. The heart of the Christian disciple is one who trusts ferociously in God’s plan. We are asked to let go and put our trust in the hands of our Heavenly Father. After His resurrection, Jesus tells St. Peter, the first pope, “Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (Cf. John 21:18). In other words, if you want to truly be a Christian, let me lead you. The famous comedian Woody Allen, probably put it best: “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans!”
Once we accept this, we can finally find the true freedom we desperately all desire. We work tirelessly as we fumble through life, while at the same time, our ears are sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. When God speaks, we’re ready to act and adjust accordingly. We see this dynamic perfectly in the famous story we heard in this Sunday’s Gospel, as the two disciples are walking towards the city of Emmaus. They are disappointed and dejected because their own plan for Jesus did not involve him being tortured and killed on the cross. They did not yet understand God’s grander vision. Suddenly, the risen Jesus appears and chastises them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Cf. Luke 24: 25-26). He reveals the true plan. Now their eyes are opened and they finally let go of their control. Once they do, their “hearts burn” with passion. If we want true life, liberty, and happiness, it can only be found in letting God lead the dance.
A Servant of Jesus Christ,
Fr. Brian J. Soliven
