The Same Old Thing
If you have been a reader of my blog, you’ve probably noticed that I repeat topics. At times, it is because of something in the news that presents a new perspective on a topic. One example of this is the article I published last night, “New Material for Bulletins & Social Media on 2024 NYS Proposal 1.” This article introduced a series of six bulletin articles I wrote advocating against New York State Proposal 1. It has to do with abortion and gender ideology. Abortion and gender ideology are not new topics. What is different is Proposal 1 on the NYS ballot. I wrote the series of bulletin articles to inform people about issues our Catholic faith has with Proposal 1.
Even when there isn’t something new to talk about, there are still times when I repeat topics. Why? Because we are slow to change what is in our hearts.
In John 4:4-42 we hear the story of the Samaritan woman at the well coming to know who Jesus is. The story is told as one continuous event. In that one day, the woman comes to faith in Jesus. Likewise, in John 9:1-41, we see the man born blind came to know Jesus as the Son of God and the long-expected Messiah.
We can all have days where we undergo a large conversion in our faith in a single day. At other times, the conversion we seek can take years. When the latter is true, sometimes we need to hear the same thing over and over to lead us to conversion. Sometimes, we need to hear it from a different perspective before we undergo conversion. Either way, I hope my “new” articles on “old” topics, help you come to know God more fully and to understand how what God has said in the past is still relevant today. We need to come to see as God sees, by looking into the heart (see 1 Samuel 16:7).
Sometimes we need to peel away layers of what we thought was right to get to the full strength. We start with the obvious. When we remove the big misconceptions and sins, we undergo some conversion and we can begin to see the little misconceptions and our little sins. Conversion is a lifelong spiritual journey.
When we realize we have sinned, we ask God to change our hearts from hearts of stone to hearts full of his love and truth (see Ezekiel 11:17-21).
Our goal is to say yes to God in all things. Our yes doesn’t mean that we understand everything. We never will. Our yes means we trust in God even when we don’t understand. Here, I think of Peter’s response to Jesus, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69). Peter does not say he understands everything. He says he believes what Jesus said.
I also think of Mary at the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38). She questions how she can be pregnant. In faith, she trusts the words of the angel Gabriel that it will happen by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We keep discerning what God has said to us and how it applies to our lives today. We ask for the gifts of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding from the Holy Spirit. When we don’t understand we ask for the grace to believe.
Peace,
Fr. Jeff