Make His Paths Straight
The word “steward” crops up a few times during the course of the Church’s year. It’s not a word we use very often in the modern world as it describes a particular type of servant—and let’s face it, who has servants at all these days, let alone any of the long list of butlers, footmen, valets, cooks and maids that once graced the houses of the rich? Back in the old days, these larger households and estates had a servant called a steward, whose job it was to manage his employer’s property and financial affairs.
In today’s Epistle to the Corinthians, St. Paul reminds us that in fact we are all servants. Servants, or ministers of Christ—and stewards of the mysteries of God. As ministers of Christ, we ad-minister the things of our blessed Lord. We are, as St. Paul says, “stewards of the mysteries of God.” It is therefore our prime concern to take care of those mysteries, making sure nothing occurs to damage or corrupt them.
Now that we know what our job is, let’s look a little more closely at what exactly those mysteries are… What are the mysteries of God, the mysteries of our faith. They are the deep, profound and sometimes partially hidden truths that God has revealed. Mysteries like that of the nature of the Blessed Trinity, or the dual nature of Christ, are truths that we are called upon not only to believe, but, as stewards, to preserve intact. All the dogmas of our Holy Mother Church are equally ours to keep, to watch over, to make sure the enemy does not enter in to destroy. These dogmas are defined by the Church and have been believed since the time God revealed them to man. It is unthinkable that anyone, be he a protestant revolutionary like Martin Luther or a man who claims to be the Pope himself, should ever change these dogmas and mysteries in even the slightest way. They are as immutable as the very nature of God himself, unchangeable precisely because God is unchangeable, because God is Truth, and Truth is unchangeable. A Pope can no more alter the nature of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass than he can make two plus two equal five. It is not possible, and if he attempts to do so he is displaying a deep misunderstanding—or betrayal—of his prime duty as Chief Steward of the mysteries of God.
“It is required in stewards,” says St. Paul, “that a man be found faithful.” We may look around at the current anarchy within Christ’s holy Church, and groan in dismay at the lack of true faith we find there. What is more important, however, is that we turn to ourselves and examine our conscience as to whether we are being faithful stewards of the mysteries of God. We may perhaps congratulate ourselves that we believe everything the Church teaches, everything that God has revealed. But because we merely believe them, does that make us faithful stewards of these truths? Are we doing everything we can to preserve and pass on these truths to our children?
And what about those Ten Commandments that God revealed, the great Truths of the moral and divine law that he expects us to keep? We all believe that it is a sin to break one of those commandments, but are we faithful stewards of those commandments if we habitually break them? We know it’s wrong to lie, cheat and steal, to commit sins of lust, envy, unjustified anger, drunkenness and the rest. But how often do we lie, cheat, steal and so on? And what about all those hidden sins that no one knows about but ourselves? Suddenly, our confidence in our faithful stewardship has become a little shaky! We need to stop patting ourselves on the back and recognize that we really aren’t that faithful at all, that we are all sinners—sinners in need of redemption.
Fortunately for us, there’s Christmas. And on this Fourth Sunday in Advent, while there’s still time, we need to delve a little more deeply into the true meaning of Christmas. It’s time to look beyond the superficial jolly holly tinsel of the coming holiday, time to look beneath the fancy wrapping paper and see the great gift that is contained within, that very Redemption that means more to us than anything else on earth. The Lord is coming, and St. Paul reminds us today that when he comes “he will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts.” We shall all be judged when he comes, judged on the faithfulness of our stewardship of the mysteries of God. Have we believed them? Yes? Good. That’s a start. Have we preserved them, protected them from the attacks of the enemy? How? To what extent? To the best of our ability? Have we passed the truths of our faith on to our children, making sure they know God as well as they should, making sure they know the importance of keeping the commandments—not just because they are rules and regulations that prevent them from doing what they want, but because they are the means to their own eternal happiness? And have we ourselves observed these mysteries of God, these truths and moral laws? Have we been faithful stewards? Really?
Christmas is coming. Christ is coming. Between now and December 25th let’s renew our commitment to our duties as stewards. Above all, let’s look forward to our Christmas Mass, to renewing our love for our Saviour in the Holy Eucharist, which is, after all, chief amongst the mysteries of our faith. In fact, it encapsulates all the other mysteries—it is the Mystery of Faith which we should thing on, long and deep: “This is the cup of my Blood, the Blood of the New and Everlasting Covenant, the Mystery of Faith.” It is the observance of this mystery that is at the source of our Redemption. By being faithful stewards, we will make our Lord’s path straight. We will fill every valley with our virtues, every mountain and hill of our wickedness shall be brought low. If we are crooked, we will be made straight, our rough ways shall be made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.