Trust in God

Editorial

By Fr. Gerald Curry, S.F.M.
April 2003

Return to Table of Contents
Print Article

Easter is the celebration of a life of faith and trust in God. The Easter celebrations of the death and resurrection of Jesus and his promise of the presence of the Spirit are the very heart of our faith. In his life, Jesus trusted that God is at the centre of all life, calling us to unity and community. And Jesus embraced God's plan and promise.

Like us in all things except sin, Jesus believed and lived his life trusting in God "unto death, even death on a cross." Pope John Paul II, in his reflections on the Way of the Cross, reveals the cross as good news-a message of love. The very human Christ in his love gives himself for others. His final words, "It is finished," signify the end of a life given for others, a life with God at its centre.

In this issue you will read about Fr. Paul Ouellette and Rita Mahon, two people who believed in Jesus, and like Jesus, placed their trust and hope in God. I knew them both. Their lives of faith were a powerful witness, helping me to believe.

The Gospels tell us that Jesus shed tears as he entered Jerusalem: "If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! ...because you did not recognize the time of your visitation" (Luke 19:42-44).

Would Jesus shed tears at our world today? Does our world know the message of peace and the things that make for peace?

There is no doubt that millions of people believe in God and put their trust in God. Most important for them is to care and share, to build community, to see all peoples as their brothers and sisters-all having dignity as children of God.

Feminist theologian Ivone Gebara writes, "to say that God is my hope and our hope is to affirm that we do not set our hope on 'chariots, horses and horsemen.'" For me, this means that we do not put our trust in power, money, prestige, possessions, in physical beauty and prowess-all of the enticements of our modern economy and way of life. These things serve only to distract us. We must put our trust in God alone.

What a world we would live in if only we would listen to Jesus. His teaching and way of life witness to us the things that make for peace. He taught us to live the Beatitudes-to care for the most vulnerable; to share; to reach out to the excluded; to forgive "seventy times seven"; to put away the sword.

Jesus was among us as one who serves and he told us that it is in dying to ourselves, that we live. Indeed, he gave his very life for us.

In Jesus we learn to live with each other and so attain our dignity as God's children. In the words of Pope John Paul II:

"We have within us the capacities for wisdom and virtue. With these gifts, and with the help of God's grace, we can build...a civilization worthy of the human person, a true culture of freedom."

Return to Table of Contents
Print Article