In the first reading for mass today, from the book of Timothy, Paul greets Timothy with the words “Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord”, then he goes on to tell us about his former life. Paul was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. This transformation in Paul is quite remarkable. He goes from one extreme to the other, but his transformation was not due to his own efforts. Paul was knocked off his horse in Damascus – by grace. Jesus Christ himself came to Paul and initiated his transformation, by a sheer act of grace. Actual grace is a direct gift from God to help a person in a specific situation or circumstances. In this case, Jesus Christ himself had mercy on Paul and came to his aid and did not let him persist in his ignorance.
This is something we too, should remember. Sometimes there are things we just can’t do on our own, ask anyone who has ever tried to quit smoking, drinking or break an addiction to drugs. We are by nature weak human beings and often can not seem to change no matter how hard we try. We are also stubborn sometimes like Paul was and refuse to acknowledge our problem, to acknowledge the truth about ourselves. Paul was a man of violence and a persecutor of Jesus Christ, who just couldn’t accept the truth that Jesus Christ was the son of God. But, Jesus had mercy on him because he acted in ignorance and he came to Paul with an overflowing abundance of grace.
When we are too weak to change on our own, Jesus Christ can be our source of strength. We can rely on him in prayer and allow Christ to strengthen us to be able to do things we can not do on our own. One of the steps in the twelve step programs is to acknowledge that things are out of your control and to recognize that a higher power exists that is stronger than you. Jesus Christ is our higher power. Prayer is not just a mechanism we use to ask the Lord for help, it is also a means of change. Prayer itself changes you, and strenghtens you to do things that used to seem impossible. With Christ, all things are possible if you just believe he has the power to change you, and you spend enough time in prayer to develop a personal relationship with him. This is what the gospel is about today too. Jesus says “A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.”
The rest of the gospel is about judging others. We do this a lot with people who smoke, drink or have an addiction to drugs. Why can’t they control themselves, we think? Just quit. But, it isn’t that easy. Some folks are more susceptible to addictions than others. It really can be an inherited tendency and that is why it is more difficult for them to control their drinking, or addictions. That’s hard for us to understand on the outside looking in. It is the same with people who have depression or mental illnesses. We also view depression as a sign of weakness sometimes too.
Jesus says “Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?” It is so easy to notice people around us and their actions because we physically see them. We can’t see ourselves. Today, maybe we could look inside ourselves honestly, instead. We have enough of our own weaknesses to work on without taking on anyone else’s. But, we don’t have to do this alone. Jesus can be a source of strength, comfort and help in our lives if we just give him a chance to do so. Saint Paul learned this the hard way!
