Sadly, there are many in this world who fear daily for their personal safety. From the drone strikes in Ukraine to the terror inflicted by Boko Harem in Nigeria, the lives of these unfortunate people are constantly at risk, and they must be ever vigilant if they are to survive.
And then there is the fear, not for personal safety, but that our identity or assets will be taken. Each day newspapers have stories of couples who lost their entire life savings to a sweet-talking con man or the hacking of their computer.
Fear is a great motivator, and in response to these fears about our personal safety or the security of our possessions, we act. From the limits we place on our online activity, to where we travel, or even when and where we travel within our hometowns.
While imprisoned in Rome, the Apostle Paul changed the focus of the epistle he was writing from our earthly fears about our personal safety or the loss of our possessions, to something much more important – our souls. The very essence of who we are.
Maybe Paul was reminding us of Jesus’ words in Matthew when he said, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” Or, “What will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Like Jesus, Paul was reminding us that our focus should not be on our earthly wellbeing, but on our spiritual wellbeing.
As we reflect on Paul’s words, we need to remind ourselves that asking for AI to solve our problems is not the solution. It simply starves our souls of the prayer and reflection needed. We need to remind ourselves that the pride we have in our own moral compass needs to be bolstered by asking for God’s help. We need to remind ourselves that any bitterness and envy we harbor only darken our souls and thus, our relationship with God. We need to remind ourselves that compromise is a slippery slope, one destined to lead us away from following Christ. So, today during our Examen of Conscience, let’s pray for those who live in fear for their lives and for those who have fallen victim to evil scams. More importantly, let’s ask God to be our armor against the flaming arrows of The Evil One, to shield us from the constant assault that is upon us to step away from living faith-filled lives and loving our neighbors. Let’s take time to nurture our souls like our life depended on it …because our eternal life does.
Steve Scholer
I came to Creighton to attend law school in 1976 and following 5 years of private practice I started what I thought would be a 4 year job to help Fr. James Hoff, S.J. raise funds for the Campaign for Creighton. Little did I know that the many wonderful people I would soon meet, both here on campus and across the entire country, over the next few years would lead me to stay and continue to support the mission of this University. My wife is a Creighton graduate and our son, Frank, is a Xavier undergraduate and Creighton law graduate. Our daughter, Paige, has both her undergraduate and master’s degree from Creighton.
I do not participate in social media websites so posting my personal interpretation about what the readings mean to me is a novel experience for me. However, being required to put pen to paper forced me to become more reflective about what God is really trying to say to me and this has helped me in my daily prayer life - to slow down and let the Word of God dwell within me instead of racing through the daily devotions.
