6 November 2019
Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
“Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another.” (Rom 13:8) It is tempting to look at any set of good laws as a checklist, that once one has completed, one has done enough. The ten commandments are sometimes read and then receive the response, “I have avoided all the ‘Thou shalt not’s … so I’m good!” Paul’s words help to remind us that thinking that just because the prohibitions of the law are necessary for life that they are also sufficient for our flourishing. Rather, over and above observance, the relationship established with God who is Justice and Mercy Himself is what is necessary, He alone is the One who suffices.
Divine sufficiency helps us to hear Jesus’ call to the renunciation of possessions. (Lk 14:33) Coming paradoxically as the call does right after parables in which a builder must ask if he has enough materials, and a general if he has enough troops, one might think that the exhortation would be examine whether or not one has enough possessions. Instead, for the building Christians are to work on, for the battle they are to wage, possessions are helplessly insufficient. For the vocation of Christ, the question is not, “Do you have what it takes?” but rather “Do you have Whom it takes?” If so, all else finds its true value. If not, nothing else will do. If we are convinced of our own sufficiency, and the sufficiency of a universe of other things which are just a grain in the scales or a drop of dew (Wis 11:22), we will not seek for whom we truly need. Just as mistaken are those who would seek to fulfill precepts but lack charity. Let us pray for the grace to welcome the One who alone is enough, and who gives value to all else, the God who is Love.