Homily for 15 Mar 2017

15 Mar 2017

Being a disciple of Christ isn’t always clear-cut.  Sometimes it’s like driving in a thick fog, on roads we’re unfamiliar with.  And so, life might feel a little slower; we might feel less confident; we might even be afraid.  And sometimes it seems like the fog just keeps getting thicker and thicker, instead of clearer.

When the Prophet Jeremiah was being threatened, and his enemies were closing in around him, he wasn’t doing anything wrong.  It wasn’t because he somehow strayed from the path of God.  In fact, it was for the opposite reason: he was doing his best to stay true to God—that’s why he found himself in his predicament.

And when Jesus talks about the chalice—the chalice of suffering—he’s simply reiterating the experience of so many people who’ve followed God.  To be a disciple of Christ isn’t always clear-cut.  And it’s made foggier anytime we feel the weight of the “trial” that comes with doing the right thing.  After all, we expect that being a friend of Jesus is going to be a happy experience.  And, indeed, it sometimes is.  But there’s also that chalice of suffering we drink.

Of course, the temptation is to think that when the bad times come we must be doing something wrong; we must not be true enough to Jesus.  In reality, though, it could be just the opposite.  The disciples of Christ have good times with him, certainly.  And they also have rough times.  The challenge is to stay the course through both the good and the bad.

Being a disciple of Christ isn’t always clear-cut; the path isn’t always obvious.  But it is there.  And our daily prayers help us stay connected to the path, to Jesus who is the Way.