Who do we think we are?

In the first of these articles on ‘Who do we think we are?’, we talked about our being human beings among human beings but whose special identity lay in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

A consequence of this is that we are called to live human lives, in all its ups and downs as do other human beings.  We are not given a red carpet through life but must live life as it comes to us.  We bear within us both the goodness that is in humanity and its capacity to be sinful.  This may be rather obvious but it warns us against thinking that there is some sort of perfection which is already achieved among us, that we are some sort of perfectionist group; it is obvious to us all that we are not.  Perfection or completion will only come when we meet God face to face. 

The People of God, the Church, are not an enclosed sect protecting itself from the rest of the world but a part of that world which is God’s world, within which they have the honour of knowing Christ explicitly. 

What Jesus calls his disciples to is conversion.  None of the disciples as we see them in the gospels are perfect; they are portrayed warts and all in the gospels.  They are human beings much like other human beings of their time. 

Conversion – in the gospels – means a change in the way we see things.  In the original Greek, the word means a call to go beyond our present way of seeing things and doing things.  It is not just a call ‘to be good’ but a call to change, to begin to look at things the way Jesus does.  Look at the people Jesus comes across in the gospels, he always calls on them to see life as he sees it and into a life of trust in the Father.

Being called to conversion is a lifelong process; it keeps going on.  It is not over in a day or a year or a decade.  It is seeking to live our human lives, so like those of all other human beings, and to live those lives as they enter into different moods and different circumstances and different challenges. 

Being Christian is being human in a life of dialogue with Jesus Christ.  Every human being seeks to live their lives in accord with something which gives meaning to their lives.  For us it is the life, words, death and resurrection of Jesus which is the light for our path through life. 

By Fr Frank O’Loughlin

Published: 26 July 2024