One of the biggest problems I see in today’s society is that people simply do not honor their commitments. Something triggered this in my mind today, and while it was extremely small in nature, it made me think about the word “commitment” in a larger sense, and what it means to be committed to something. A job. A community, or a ministry. A friendship. A marriage and a family. God. Together, these pretty much cover life. And to be committed to these various things means to be dedicated to that cause with devotion and loyalty. But it’s also in these aspects where today’s society is breaking down.
So many people don’t care about doing a good job in their work, and making the decision to do what is right and honor their commitment to work and get the job done. We all have a duty to make our communities, both civic and parish, better places and to contribute, but we often let others do the work. We make commitments to a ministry or an organization, but then we want to back out or not take part if it becomes too much work or too much sacrifice of our precious time. Don’t get me wrong, we need to have balance in our lives and not over-commit. But many times, we just don’t want to sacrifice our time and get out of our comfort zone.
A marriage means nothing anymore in greater world society, with divorce very common, and unfortunately, the family is adversely affected as a result. Our children, if we choose to have any often take second place to our more selfish desires – our careers, our material possessions, and our fun. And in divorce, the children are always hurt the most.
And God? Well, let’s just say, He’s used to it. I’ve heard it said that the most tragic character in the Bible is not Job, or Jonah, or Moses, or the prophets. It is God. He loves us so much, but we keep denying Him and breaking our promises, and our commitments to Him. I look at todays readings, and one thing sticks out – commitment.
For several millennia we’ve repeatedly turned away from God, yet His commitment to us has been steadfast. It has never waivered. After the Great Flood, He promised He would never destroy us again, and that must have been a hard promise to keep, but He never waivered. Through all our faults and all our horrible things we’ve done, God has continued to stand by us, and continually try to bring us back on course, working through numerous people along the way until He could send the One to fulfill the one role, to perform the one task, to undergo the one trial that would save not just one of us, but ALL of us. This was God’s commitment to us, and he fulfilled it.
“The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus”
God kept His word and sent Christ to us, to become us, and to die for us. And through this Christ made His commitment to us that all who follow Him, and believe in Him, and trust in Him, and ask forgiveness through Him will be saved and led to that ultimate Promised Land – Heaven. This is the ultimate commitment by God to us, through His Son, and the only thing we must do is commit to Him that we will do this, and be Him to the rest of the world.
Sounds easy right? But it’s the following, and believing, and trusting, and asking for forgiveness part that is the hard part. We can say we are committed to Christ, but things just get in the way. So many things in this world try to distract us, and they do a good job. It is so difficult to be committed to Christ today, amidst all the greed, violence, sex, drugs/alcohol and other vices out there. It is so difficult to be committed to Christ when you want to gossip about your co-worker or neighbor, when you want to take the easy way out, cheat, and cut corners. It’s difficult when a simple white lie could prevent you from doing something you don’t want to do.
But then that gossip snowballs and becomes much larger and hurtful. Taking the easy way out and not living up to your commitments affects the welfare of others who may be impacted by your laziness. And that white lie, well, requires more lies to keep up your façade and the story you are trying to uphold. All of this affects our integrity, and our relationship with Christ. No one is immune. No one is innocent. We all have failed on our commitment to Christ. But yet, he is there. Waiting for us to live up to the potential that He died for.
The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.
We continue to make the same mistakes, but we know Who we need to go to in order to be forgiven. Christ.
I know this sounds all doom and gloom. And in a way it is. But we can always recommit. This is the thing I love about our faith. Every day is a new day. Every hour is a new hour. We can always ask for forgiveness through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, wipe the slate clean, make a new commitment to Christ that we will try to be better. We can always rest, and spend more time in prayer and adoration. We can always attend a Mass – every day. That’s all He asks. That we try. That we continue to hope and pray in Him that He will help us through, that we look to Him for the very reason He was sent to us – to save us.
“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
We seek repentance and let Christ and His Father honor their commitment to us. And then we go forth, out into the world and uphold our commitment to Christ that we do His will, and live like Him, and live by His commandments. We do our best to honor this. We keep doing this. Regularly, seeking His forgiveness and grace. Asking for the desire to seek His will, and know His will when we see it, and the ability to act and do His will. Soon this superabundant grace affects us. It changes us and we’re able to better keep our commitment to Christ and do everything we do in His name, for the betterment and service of others. In our jobs. In our communities and our parishes. And in our marriages and our families. And to our God. We just need to stay committed, and stay the course.
