A Homily for the Fifth Sunday after Easter

+ In this morning’s Epistle the apostle rightly compares the man who examines the Law of the Lord and acts otherwise to he who looks at his countenance in a mirror and immediately forgets what sort of man he is. Looking at yourself without taking in any notion of who you are is entirely useless. It only wastes time. So too, studying God's commands without putting them into practice is hollow. Worse: it is hypocrisy. The Psalmist gives voice to God asking the wicked man “Why do you declare my justice and take my covenant in your mouth, you who hate discipline and cast my word behind you?” (Ps 49:16-17 vlg) Even whilst offering sacrifice to God, the sinner is committing injustice against all those near him. St James would go further still later on in his epistle by pointing out that such offenses mark a man as a liar before God.

Through the analogy of the mirror the Apostle offers us a far richer insight into how we must relate to the divine law as presented in Scripture and in the fullness of the Church’s tradition. Just as one needs to examine oneself to know what sort of man one is, so also we need to look attentively at God’s Revelation in history to know our Creator and who He made us to be. But if we come to know how we are created by whom and for what purpose, failing to live according to the nature given to us renders our prayer as hypocrisy. Faith can never be severed from charity, just as charity can never be severed from faith. And each can only live through a relationship with God and by continually contemplating the wonders He has worked for us and the teaching He offers us through the law, the prophets and the Gospel, as well as the commentators on these par excellence: the church fathers.

Yet temptation and sin will never fail to assault us. The discipline which the narrow path to life requires is difficult. As more progress is made towards the Lord, the more the devil will strive to place obstacles in our way. Not only will obstacles continually be placed before us, but there is always more we can and should do to come to God. As we progress through life our capacity to do good changes. We grow and age. Illness and bodily weakness usually sabotage our capacity to work in older age. Each stage in life has its proper manner of working for the glory of God. Each period of life has its own difficulties and temptations to overcome.

St Benedict, following the earlier monastic tradition in which he was deeply rooted, therefore has his monks profess a vow of conversion of life. That is, that we should never fail to seek to enter further into the mystery of God and correct our manner of living accordingly. He is fully aware that it is only within the discipline of keeping God’s commandments that we can enjoy the sweetness of His consolation. But he is also very aware of the ease with which we can wander from the narrow path to life. It is no accident that the great Psalm in praise of God’s Law 118 finishes with an acknowledgement that “I have gone astray as a lost sheep, seek your servant because I have not forgotten your commands” (Ps 118:176). The entire psalm is spent reiterating how completely enveloped we must be in the contemplation of the law of God. Yet these final words of the psalm also expose our ultimate weakness and need to return to God through His grace.

We can never take a rest from gazing upon God which allows us to enter ever more fully into His life and all the more truly follow Him. Never can we lose sight of our created nature which receives everything from God and which can only truly be known in Him. We must, rather, continuously look to God’s law as into a mirror in order to ensure that we are truly living from our Creator and Father. +