That is why I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name; and I pray that he will bestow on you gifts in keeping with the riches of his glory. May he strengthen you inwardly through the working of his Spirit. May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith, and may charity be the root and foundation of your life. - Ephesians 3:14-17
Quo vadis? Where are you going? Where is Jesus calling you to go? Will you answer his call or will you be like the young man in today’s reading and walk away sad with your head down? Or, knowing you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit and are filled with his gifts, will you set out to fulfill what God calls you to?
We are all called to a vocation of charity. What I can’t tell you is what the Lord has planned in particular for you. I can, however, tell you with assurance, in Pope Francis’s words, that “A great love has been offered to us, a good word has been spoken to us, and that when we welcome that Word, the Holy Spirit transforms us, lights up our way and enables us joyfully to advance along that way on wings of hope.” (Lumen Fidei #7)
We keep this hope, this fire of the Holy Spirit that we recently celebrated, burning within us by constantly letting him perfect his gifts in us. With the Spirit’s perfection animating us, where we were once hesitant and uncertain, we gain a confidence and joy to live an enlarged and expanded life filled with compassion and truth. To the degree that we allow the Spirit to work in us we will be able to reach out to others with greater charity and truly renew the face of the earth.
We have all been commissioned by Jesus to bring the good news to the ends of the earth. Cardinal Wuerl has some helpful advice in this matter when he shows us in his book Faith That Transforms Us that going to the ends of the earth doesn’t require traveling at all. Where you are right now is the end of the earth. Begin to transform those around you. Start with small things, start with simple things, be aware of what those around you are lacking, what they need, and start there. And the beauty of this is that not only are others transformed, we who believe are also continually transformed because the Holy Spirit constantly perfects our faith by his gifts (cf. Dei Verbum, 5).
Quo vadis? Now Go!
Vinitius rubbed his forehead as if struggling with his thoughts, then...spoke to all present: “...I only spoke as my own human intellect dictated. However all of you reason according to Christ and His teaching. I don’t fully understand that yet and my inclination and my thinking is still different from yours. But since I love Christ and want to be His servant, I kneel here before you and swear to you that I too will not leave my brethren in the days of trouble.” Then he raised his eyes and with religious fervor exclaimed, “Do I understand You at last, O Christ? Am I now worthy of You?” Quo Vadis, Henryk Sienkiewicz
The link below is to the 2001 Polish Quo Vadis movie. It is in Polish, and can be graphic at times, but that can remind us of what it is like without a life with Jesus and living the Beatitudes. Though not in English it is a good movie bringing to life that era. Sienkiewicz' novel is also available free on-line at gutenberg.org.