Secret of contentment: Trusting in God

		Living the Scriptures  with St. Paul University  Catholic Center  John Campbell

The second reading this Sunday is taken from St. Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, the 12th chapter.

In it we find that some infringement on St. Paul's comfort is occurring and that he has pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away from him.

Now, those prayers make sense to us. Something goes wrong and we cry out, "God, I don't like this game anymore." So, we easily track with St. Paul so far.

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 9, 2006) Ez 2:2-5 Ps 123:1-2, 2, 3-4 2 Cor 12:7-10 Mk 6:1-6

Then he gets an answer from God. Yes - answered prayer! The answer is . . . drum roll, please . . . "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

At this point, we become aware of why St. Paul is not merely Mr. Paul. St. Paul actually agrees and cooperates with God's answer. There's no bitterness. He finds the answer enlightening and decides to walk in its light.

We now join this encounter in progress . . . St. Paul says, "Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" (my emphasis).

That is quite a response. We may conclude that either St. Paul has "lost it," that God's refusal to take away his problem drove him insane, or that God's answer revealed to him the secret of contentment in all circumstances. Let us be assured that St. Paul is quite clear and sound of mind.

In Phil 4:11-12, he says, "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."

The secret of contentment involves cooperating and settling in with what God in His grace provides. A certain posture of soul is required in order for us to experience the Lord's power made perfect in our weakness.

That posture of soul involves trust in God, not panic. It involves patience to see His hand causing all things to work together for good for those who love Him (cf. Rom 8:28).

Nobody said the secret of contentment would satisfy our cravings for comfort. If we strive against contentment by preferring comfort, we may indeed achieve more comfort. But selling out in this manner deprives us of an enduring contentment in all things.

	Reflection questions • How can we learn to trust God in the midst of weaknesses and difficulties? • Do you find it consoling or disturbing to know that you will suffer?

God invites us to pray for serenity, courage, and wisdom. He has granted us access into His grace in which we may stand and not fall. And His grace is sufficient for us, because His power is perfected in our weakness. Let us not descend to seeking mere comfort.

Let us respond to God's invitation to true contentment, accessed by grace, faith, trust, and patience.

John Campbell is a special education teacher in the Verona Area Schools. He and his wife lead a couple's Bible Study.

St. Paul's Web site is www.stpaulscc.org

Discovering God:
What is His plan for each of us?

		Living the Scriptures  with St. Paul University  Catholic Center  Rachel C. M. Crigler

To encounter God is to stumble upon the eternal. I use the word 'stumble' because I think, in reality, that is how many of us actually first discover God.

We sort of bump into Him one day by accident. God, of course, has always known He would be there waiting for us at that juncture in our lives, but we are none the wiser until the moment He chooses to step into the road and reveal Himself to us.

God's revelations bind us to Christ in an irreversible manner. It places us at the beginning of a new chapter of our lives - the one which includes the "climax" of our story here on Earth because in it we will discover the specific mission God has intended for us in His divine plan.

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 16, 2006) Am 7:12-15 Ps 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14 Eph 1:3-14 or 1:3-10 Mk 6:7-13

St. Paul begins to touch on this in his letter to the Ephesians by explaining that they had already been chosen by God before "the foundation of the world" to fulfill a specific end. Throughout his letter, St. Paul is intent to encourage the Ephesians to keep an eternal perspective - on their lives and the lives of all they encounter.

God's plan for each of us does not conclude with our individual personal salvation - He has ultimately intended for us to be instruments used in the salvation of others.

Only through Christ and in Christ can we become effective tools in the art of salvation. God has the means to transfer incorruptibility upon each of us and He did such at Calvary when Christ's blood was shed for the redemption of the world.

Although spiritual warfare rages on, in the grand scheme of eternity, the battle has already been won. We would do well to remember this fact in our everyday lives - especially in our interactions with others. We give witness to our faith and Christ's sacrifice through our small, daily sacrifices to whomever we chance upon.

Jesus freely offered up His life for family and friends, but also for an infinite number of people He never had (or ever would) meet during His mortal existence. When it came to fulfilling the mission God had intended for Him, He knew everyone (even His murderers) would benefit by it and He accepted His duty humbly and filled with love.

How we love others will eventually determine the outcome of our personal missions as well. Our human love is imperfect and it is very difficult for each of us to love ourselves, each other, and God as we ought.

	Reflection questions • At what point does my life intersect with eternity? • How often do I have a prayerful encounter with another person?

However, we must continue to strive for improvement in these areas each day because we have the power to influence another person's salvation greatly based on how little or how much we love them. What we each need most at any given moment is not to be understood by someone, but to be loved by him or her.

Allow yourself the opportunity to love God more by loving the image of Christ inside of each person you encounter.

Rachel C. M. Crigler is a dorm missionary for St. Paul's University Catholic Center. She attended the Universidad de Nacional, Costa Rica.

St. Paul's Web site is www.stpaulscc.org

Faith Alive!

In a Nutshell Revisiting the great theologians and saints of the church's early days is not simply a nostalgic retreat to the past. "Ressourcement" is a French term referring to the work of revisiting the writers and thinkers of early church tradition and seeing the church through their eyes. Through these ancestors in the faith, we discover something of ourselves and who we are as Christians. Catholic News Service 3211 Fourth St NE Washington DC 20017 202.541.3250 cns@catholicnews.com	Food for Thought   I took a course on the earliest church fathers in the Catholic college I attended. Sound dull? It was fascinating -- and known throughout the campus as such. True, the professor was a great teacher. But for me this visit to the past, to the church fathers, was as much about faith's possibilities now as about faith long ago. Often we grow into our future by first stepping into the past. Think about the lengths to which we'll go to know our family history better. We discover something of ourselves in this process. Revisiting the past became a pathway to the future in a special way during the era surrounding Vatican Council II. The Bible's importance was recovered, for example. Today, Scripture groups dynamically involve so many quite contemporary people. In revisiting the church's distant past, we discover what was considered important and what wasn't by our faith ancestors, or why they did some things that we perhaps still do, though we've forgotten why. We find that important practices we've forgotten would be effective now; we find that the concerns of Christian faith are fuller than we imagined. full story   Life in the early church By Father Robert L. Kinast Catholic News Service There is a wealth of information available about the first centuries of the Christian era. Using this information, historians can piece together a fairly accurate picture of the life of the early church. Some of its main features are as follows. 1. Membership. Within the first 100 years after Jesus' death and resurrection, three distinct groups of disciples emerged. full story  A family matter called "ressourcement" By William M. Wright IV Catholic News Service I am the fourth generation in a line of William Madison Wrights. Besides having the same name, we all have shared a common passion and love: baseball. Not too long ago, my father, William III, showed me a press clipping written shortly after the 1957 death of his grandfather, William I. The article, by the local small-town sportswriter, praised the hitting abilities of my great-grandfather, who had played semi-pro baseball in the area. full story  Job's lessons for today By Father Dale Launderville, OSB Catholic News Service Job was tested severely by misfortune. This biblical character provides us an example of one who remained faithful to God as he searched to understand God's ways in extremely trying circumstances. "Job's patience" is proverbial, but the biblical Job did not suffer silently. He responded to misfortune not only with quiet acceptance but also with vigorous protest. full story
	Faith in the Marketplace   This Week's Discussion Point: Tell of someone in the Bible whose concerns very much resemble your concerns today.     Selected Response From Readers:
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