Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

1 Peter 1:13-25

You Shall be Holy, For I am Holy, or, You Have to Model Yourself on Someone

Like many others, the life and writings of the twentieth century monk-author-social critic-poet-peace activist-mystic-hermit-celebrity Thomas Merton have been an important part of my spiritual nourishment. For some, Merton’s writings can be a bit esoteric. For others, he comes across as sentimental and/or sentimentalized. But those who like him... really like him. 

Thomas Merton

Merton was a smart guy, who attended Columbia University in New York, with a bunch of other smart, bohemian friends. Eventually he felt a calling to commit himself to the Church. He was rejected by the Franciscans, who I think saw him as a mired too deeply in a life of sin, but  he was, thankfully, welcomed by the Cistercian order. 

One day the young Merton was discussing his faith with his best friend Robert Lax (a wonderful poet and interesting figure in his own right). Lax asked Merton about his goals as a convert. Merton was stunned by the question, and humbly said something about just trying to be a good Catholic. Lax wasn’t pleased with that answer, and instead challenged Merton to aim to be a saint. That was quite a dare, not to mention difficult feat, thought Merton! But Lax was unmoved, and claimed that to become a saint, one simply had to, basically, set out to become one. Try your best. 

Robert Lax

Today’s reading from the First Letter of Peter seems to come off in a similarly casual way, quoting God’s command in Leviticus to “be holy, for I am holy.” Okay, dummies: get your acts together. Do better. Be holy, you know, because God is. But, for me at least, it’s a lot easier on the page, in the abstract, than in real life!

I think the key to make any sense of this is in verse 21: “Through him you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.” At the core of our lives is our trust in God. This is the source of our energy, our motivation, our desires. We don’t begin living a holy life through our own power, but through the power of God working within us. 

Merton, for many, is in some sense, a saint. Part of his attraction is that he was very human, full of imperfections. Yet, his life was one that revolved around prayer, the sacraments, the proclamation of the Gospel, and a love for people and creation. Might we consider this a holy life? Is that what makes a saint? Maybe. And maybe we can find some encouragement in that.

- Matthew Kieswetter