The Christian Ideal

February 4, 2024

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mk 1: 29-39

The author GK Chesterton wrote, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” I have this quote posted on a bulletin board in my office to remind me that it’s supposed to be hard. As I have been heard to say more than once, “If it was easy – everybody could do it!”

And yet, don’t we all keep searching for the easy way, the proverbial “silver bullet”? We strive to figure out a simple formula that, by following the recipe, we can be sure that we will, in fact, see Jesus in heaven after our life is through. Surely there is a checklist out there somewhere that will tell me what to do, right? Surely there is a list of prayers, that, if I say them often enough, I will be able to say I am a good Christian.

Christianity doesn't offer easy answers - but it does offer the only answer: Follow the Gospel. And yet, being the frail human that I am, I search the Gospels to look for the easy way. Surely there is a verse that I can latch onto to give me the answers I am looking for, isn’t there? But the more I read the Gospels, the more frustrated I get, because, well, it’s not easy! I know Jesus did all that stuff, but he was God, right? Not me! But I still have to do all that stuff? That is not the easy way I am looking for!

In today’s Gospel, Jesus has to work hard. The line of people wanting to be cured is long. But Jesus never waivers and allows all who want to come to him to come. There was no magic formula or a set of rote prayers that Jesus said. He was present to each person who approached him. It must have been exhausting, but Jesus did not allow his fatigue to deter him from doing what needed to be done. It was not easy even for Jesus.

Trying to explain all that to someone looking at the Catholic faith can be pretty frustrating. Our society seeks the easy answer - and comes up empty. That’s why so many people are, in fact, looking for more in their lives, more peace, more calm, more answers. In the short term, people may find it in churches that entertain or in places that offer quick fixes. But in the end, when they try it, they are left wanting. What my challenge becomes is to help them see that it’s not easy. It was never meant to be. Faith is not easy. But the reward of the hard work is the peace I seek.

Every Day.