Lord, who shall be admitted to your tent and dwell on your holy mountain? As Christians and future priests of the Church it is important to be aware of the answer to this question.
Membership in the community of the redeemed entails a vision of morality. We are not saved merely as individuals, but rather we work out our salvation in the context of community. Moral living presupposes in this psalm human interaction. This psalm reminds us that we should not disconnect our faith life from our every day living. Such a separation is an impediment to admission to the dwelling place of the Lord. The moral requirements found in Psalm 15 are by no means exhaustive. It is only in Jesus Christ that we fully discover God’s moral vision for humanity.
Having established that membership in the community of the redeemed involves making and living out a moral vision based on the life of Jesus Christ who is himself the Tent of the Lord, it is important for us as future priests to remember that not everyone is going to agree with our moral convictions and lifestyle and that we will encounter conflict even among members of the Lord’s tent.
This is where I believe it is important for us to be aware of the dynamic at work between our humanity and the morality we uphold. In the context of temptation, which as future priests we will undoubtedly experience it is important to be aware of our own needs and wants and any patterns at work within us when we are faced with temptations, conflicts or disagreements. When I prayed over psalm 11, I was struck by the sound of a voice that encourages us to seek within ourselves the security and strength we need when we are vulnerable due to conflict and temptation. This voice is not respectful of the Truth of the human person revealed in Jesus Christ for it seems to offer an alternative approach to dealing with temptation, conflict and disagreement by holding back from the Lord our true needs and wants and seeking to satisfy them in ways that do not respect God’s moral vision for us. In times of temptation it is important for us to know what that ‘mountain’ is that the voice of temptation suggests as a backup plan for when God delays in answering our needs and wants. Psalm 11 says, ‘In the Lord I have taken refuge. How can you say to my soul: Fly like a bird to its mountain.’ It is in the context of persecution, suffering and temptation that we hear this voice, ‘fly like a bird to its mountain.’ As we uphold our moral vision and lifestyle we must remember that we must guard our frail humanity with the utmost of care as one holds water in the palms of one’s hands being careful not to allow for the slightest crack through which the water can so easily be lost. We must bring our humanity into the service of our moral vision and lifestyle if we are to prove ourselves as effective, healthy ministers of the Lord’s tent. If we resort to seeking safe haven like the bird that flies to its mountain in times of temptation, and conflict in time we will find ourselves tearing away at the necessary structure of our humanity, which is at the service of our moral vision. Foundations once destroyed, what can the just do?
God who has chosen us to be his adopted sons through Jesus Christ is well aware of our fallen humanity and is generous in his mercy. As we continue throughout this special time of formation let us commit ourselves to discovering our humanity so that Christ may bestow upon it every spiritual blessing in the heavens.
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