Memorial of Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/060512.cfm

Therefore, beloved, since you await these things,

be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace. And consider the patience of our Lord as salvation.

When I wanted to make a difference I didn’t like passages such as this. It seemed too much about personal salvation and not enough about making the world a better place. What would be the point of one person being found pure and spotless and at peace if the rest of the world were going to hell in a handbag?

Many years and several hard knocks later, I realize that I am not going to leave the world a better place for having been here. Nor can I expect to make a difference -- unless it is for ill.

But my attitude toward teachings like the above has changed. We should await these things and be eager to be found innocent etc because our purity – such as it is – with that of our Savior and his dear Mother Mary and all the saints does make a real difference.

I consider the patience of our Lord as salvation. If God continues to give us time, if the end has not yet come, we can still strive to work out our salvation. Unlike Noah’s generation, which ran out of time, we have reason to hope.

True, things are dire. Americans own more guns than ever before and are prepared to use them. The American military is more dangerous than any force in history and some Americans don’t like the way many unarmed nations are marching toward prosperity and leaving us behind. That’s not good! One fifth of American children are growing up in poverty, without the promises of a better education that their ancestors enjoyed. Very grim! The United States Supreme Court has opened the gates to abortion on demand; national, state and regional elections bought, sold and managed by big corporations – heretofore known as “persons.” Their decisions seem irreversible. Meanwhile, environmental contamination of air, water and soil continues unabated regardless of the pietists who say their next energy-consuming vehicle will be green. Etc. etc.

But -- if the Lord gives us more time the Earth will continue to get fouler and less habitable until we decide to change our ways. Whether it’s this generation or the next or the one after that, at some point we’ll have to get with the program. If the earth could absorb a major shock from outer space that ended sixty million years of dinosaur rule, and still breed innumerable and astonishingly exotic forms of life -- it can recover from human stupidity when we decide to stop being stupid.

And in the meanwhile, individual Christians can make a difference by living as best as they know how. Simplicity, honesty, integrity and faith in God will not go unheeded or unrewarded by our Good God.

Blessed John Duns Scotus taught that, whereas evil acts leave a dreadful scar on human lives for generations, a holy act is blessed by God and prevails for a thousand generations. That’s because God has infinite authority to bless good acts, and evil acts have severely limited authority:

For I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their ancestors’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but showing love down to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

I suppose most parents at some point must tell their children, “We did the best we knew how by the lights that we had.” I know my parents did. They might have done better with better education, more wealth, better counselors, etc. No social workers ever worked in my neighborhood to negotiate conflicts between the generations. The religious workers – priests and nuns – had little insight and less availability to help with our problems.

 

But I know my parents did the best they could and left the rest to God’s superabundant mercy. And we turned out okay. Not great, but okay, and perhaps a bit better than okay.

Despite the deep-in-my-heart pretensions of the Boom Generation we're not going to overcome someday. 

But neither will God forget those who await these things, and (are) eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace; and consider the patience of our Lord as salvation.