A bicyclist knows what it means to “coast.” She works hard pedaling and then comes to a downhill portion of the road, so she relaxes, quits pedaling and lets the bike’s momentum take control—coasting for a while. It feels good to coast and the cyclist feels the desire to coast all the way home. And then she meets a hill and the bike starts slowing down. Meeting the upside of a hill, she takes a deep breath and starts pedaling hard again.
I ask myself today if I am coasting at a time when I need to pedal hard. Things seem to be going well for me and I want to “coast” in my Christian life. Then, suddenly, I run into the upside of a hill. I can let myself stop and give up for a while. If I do this I will find it extremely difficult to start from scratch and work my way up the hill. Or, I can start pedaling again with renewed vigor.
The Church is taking us through St. Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians. He addresses an issue that was upsetting the Church. Outsiders started to infuse false teaching in the community. They were weakened and discouraged, and some, I imagine, wanted to give up their walk with Christ. Perhaps the group was starting to “coast,” and so God let false teachers upset them to remind them that they were on an uphill leg of their journey. Paul reminds them to stay on course and “keep pedaling” (2 Thessalonians 1-3,14-17).
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of hours.”
Back to basics. Get re-grounded in the truth. What great advice for us today when truth seems to be “up for grabs,” and almost everything the Catholic Church teaches is being challenged publicly. We notice here that Paul tells them to adhere not only to what was written but what was passed on as oral tradition.
“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and work.”
What was it that first saved us? Was it our own thinking or self-improvement tactics? No, it was pure grace that gave us the “everlasting encouragement” to line ourselves up with Jesus and his Church. I think of the verse in the hymn “Amazing Grace” that says, “His grace has brought me safe thus far, and his grace will lead me home.” His grace never quits working even if we have. God, because of his great love for us and the world, keeps generating encouragement and hope in us when we turn to him. We needed an impulse of grace at Baptism, and we continue to need impulses of grace as we try to live out the new life given us when we were reborn of water and the Holy Spirit.
Notice how Paul tells us to keep “pedaling.” When we turn to Jesus and to our Father he infuses the gift of encouragement and new strength. We are to put this into action in “every” good work and word. The Holy Spirit within puts us in the “attack” mode. We dedicate ourselves to use our words to uplift others, and our bodies to engage in the works of God. It is not a time to sit around and waste time and words with useless discussions and opinion-giving. Now, especially in light of recent Church crises, is the time to let the grace of Jesus Christ in us manifest itself in our words and actions.
As I’ve said before, we have the choice of bemoaning the disease exposed in the Church or of being an active part of the solution—helping bring new vigor and spiritual renewal to the Church.
Time to quit coasting and start pedaling!
“He shall rule the world with justice and the peoples with his constancy” (Ps 96:13).
