Fr. Jeff Coning: Eighth Anniversary

I was watching the news today to see people's reaction to deep throat’s identity being revealed. It made for interesting news, some thought him a criminal and others a hero. But one item that kept being stated was President Nixon was forced to resign more from duty to friends than an actual crime. I don’t want to get political here, but duty to friends is a thought provoking line. It's a thought I think about often.

One important tenet of friendship for me is that I would never ask someone to jeopardize their soul for an action that I desire. Someone who is my friend should never ask or expect me to do something immoral or illegal. Today I celebrate my eighth anniversary of ordination. What makes this a time of joy is that Christ has not asked me to do anything that He Himself has not done. I feel a great sense of duty to my friendship with Christ. This friendship is made easier knowing I am doing the same actions that Christ has done. One of the great joys of my priesthood is the trust that I have in my relationship with God. I live knowing that the trust that I have in other people will lead to disappointment, but there is no chance of disappointment with God. This is what continues to motivate me to remain faithful to my calling.

Fr. Jeff Coning: Corpus Christi

Today is Corpus Christi. Pope Benedict stated in his homily today, that “it would seem deep down, people do not want to have God so close, so available, so present to their affairs. People want Him to be great and, in a word, distant.” This gets me back to the point of friendship that I have been pondering for many years. When I read this statement I pondered it for awhile. Pope Benedict stated earlier that part of friendship is conformity of wills. The statement he makes today states that many do not want to have their wills conformed to Christ, at least not yet. I recently sat down with several of my friends and we had a long discussion. The discussion centered around the fact that I needed them to challenge me. I have a tendency to be lazy; I have a tendency to be happy with drifting aimlessly. I needed them to challenge me, I needed them to disturb the boat, I needed them to not let me drift. I told them that they are friends because I needed to be a better person and I looked to them to help me.

I wonder if this is a common view. Do we want our friends to support who we are? I think this is the statement that Pope Benedict is making in his homily. I think he is stating that people are glad that Jesus exists, but they are not ready to yet encounter Him.