December 30, 2005

“For to me, to live is Christ” (Phil 1:21; NIV). “I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20; NIV). “I want to know Christ” (Phil 3:10; NIV).

As these inspired words of St. Paul affirm, there is a “naked” value to knowing and possessing Christ. That is to say, that it has a value apart from anything else that may come with it or that may result from it. There is absoluteness, a super-sufficiency in knowing and being united to Jesus Christ. “You are enough for us,” writes St. Francis of Assisi in his Praises of God. We may have other needs and desires, but they are all secondary and relative to this “one necessary thing” (cf. Lk 10:42).

I think that part of the reason for many of the struggles and difficulties we experience as Christians is that we lose sight of this fundamental fact and subtly allow other needs and desires to creep up to the exclusive and exalted place of Christ is our hearts and lives. The primary focus of our desire ceases to be “Jesus alone,” with everything else subordinated to this, to “Jesus and…” Something begins to become equal to Christ in our lives, and that is a form of idolatry and an infallible recipe for disappointment. Our hearts, our happiness, our satisfaction, our peace becomes divided and dependent on something other than Christ alone, and so we find ourselves unhappy, unsatisfied, un-peaceful. Somehow, “Jesus alone” is no longer enough for us.

The obvious solution for this dilemma is to “fix our eyes on Jesus” once again, to refocus our hopes and desires on Him alone. We need to preserve the inner sanctum of our hearts exclusively for Christ, to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness”, knowing that every other needful thing will be given to us as well. In this effort, we can make the words of the psalmist our own: “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him” (Ps 62:5; NIV).

Fr. Herald J. Brock, CFR
Local Servant, Convento San Serafin, Comayagua, Honduras
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