Jesus, our Strength

Homily for Saturday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

When I was a boy, there was a very funny and popular commercial that interrupted our television watching. The commercial was from the product known as Anison, a pain reliever that today we would know as an anti-inflammatory, non-steroid drug. It was a combination of aspirin and caffeine. It is still on the market today, but I have not seen the commercial for it in a very long time. That may be simply because I don’t watch television anymore.

The commercial would usually feature a harried housewife who was obviously stressed. Her mother or mother-in-law would often volunteer to help her with whatever task she was charged. The woman would turn to her mother and say, “Mother, I’d rather do it myself.”

I was reminded of this commercial by one of the lines in the first reading from the letter of St. Jude: “To the one who is able to keep you from stumbling…” When it comes to our spiritual life of conversion, we must realize at the very beginning that our human strength is simply not enough to help us overcome the obstacles that lie in our path to conversion. One of the truths of our faith is the fact that the only human being who has ever been able to overcome sin through his own strength is the person of Jesus. Even his mother, who we regard as free from all sin, was given this gift through the death and resurrection of her son. If we hope to be successful in turning ourselves away from sin and toward the life that God offers us, we must ask that Jesus strengthen us with the graces that were won through his passion and death. We must rely upon the one who is able to keep us from stumbling.

This message is also carried by our response to the first reading in Psalm 63. Though the psalmist thirsts and hungers for God, that thirst and that hunger can only be satisfied by God. Because the psalmist realizes this, he is able to turn his face to the Lord and sing God’s praises. Through our Eucharist today, may we also be found praising God for all that God has done for us to save us from our sins.