Jesus presents an interesting challenge for us today when he compares saving one’s life as a matter of self-interest with losing one’s life for his sake. The point seems to be that, if I conduct my life along the lines that God expects of me like Jesus did in his life, then I can expect that whatever happens will be to my benefit. In other words, losing my life for Jesus means imitating him by trusting God to bring about good no matter how bleak things may appear at the time. St. Paul relies on this same idea in his letter to the Romans when he says, “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called to his purpose” (Rm 8:28).
Here’s the challenge. Putting that kind of trust in God goes against the modern focus on autonomy and self-reliance. From an early age, we learn that God helps those who help themselves. Accepting responsibility for our lives is a good thing, but in the process, we tend to forget about trusting God to show us the way. We take the helm and hope that God catches up. We pray to God for help in carrying out our will, not his. Our faith reflects our desire to save our lives. We just hope that God concurs.
Losing life for Jesus, on the other hand, calls for a different starting point that Proverbs describes in this way: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; on your own intelligence do not rely; In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths” (Prov 3:5-6). Trust in any sense is a choice. In this case, we can choose to be guided either by belief and trust in Jesus, or by our own interests. As St. Paul would say, we can live either by sight or by faith (2 Cor 5:7). When we live by faith, our lives take on a different focus.
With many parables, Jesus indicates that living by faith is a power to act a certain way, something that we do. We act with faith. This is why he says to his followers, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father...” (Mt 7:21; Mk 3:35). Faith is not only believing in God; it also means doing the will of our heavenly Father. We must be doers of the Word; not just hearers (Jm 1:22). We can trust Jesus to show us the way.
Faith on these terms is an active way of living that centers on imitating God’s love for his children and his creation. St. Paul describes faith as putting on the mind and heart of Christ and trying to do what God wants. For Paul, whoever is in Christ is a new creation (2Cor 5:17). As a new creation, our faith compels us to imitate the love of Jesus in the ordinary circumstances of our lives—however we understand our situation. This is how St. Dominic, whose feast we celebrate today, lived his life.
Today, we celebrate the way Dominic relied on faith to discover and achieve the purpose of his life. Dominic proves that having faith and trust in God does not mean surrendering who we are or what we want. Quite the opposite. To live in faith means being true to ourselves as God has fashioned us to be. The expectation is that we do this in imitation of Jesus. His love for God motivated his love and care for others, all of whom he viewed as the beloved children of God. Jesus calls us to do the same with our whole hearts and minds. Imitating Jesus is faith in action, trusting God and doing our best in the circumstances at hand.
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