Several years ago in one of his many talks, Bishop Robert Barron remarked that a great retreat could be written on the questions asked by Jesus in the gospels. He is right, there are ample questions for reflection in the gospels. Msgr. Charles Pope posted a full list of 100 questions from the gospels here, encouraging his readers to reflect. While there is no room for a full retreat in this, I want to offer some of the larger questions of Jesus as related to our time.
The gospels should spur us to spiritual reflection in any time of comfort or suffering. As the world has had a lot of suffering in the last two years, there is no better time than now to lean on Our Lord. If it helps, try engaging the imagination to sit in the audience. Every question, every teaching moment was for those people listening to Jesus, to us today, and to every generation in between. In each question asked, Jesus draws us to a particular teaching, toward virtue or against vice, and invites us to apply it to our lives.
Charity
For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? (Matthew 5:46).
Jesus calls every Christian to a radical love of neighbor. This includes every person without exemption. In the fear that has throttled the world in the COVID crisis, battle lines have been drawn through friendships, families, societies, parishes, and entire nations. Fear has crippled our ability to love and treat each other in true Christian charity. Both sides of the aisle need to treat the other side as Christ would treat them. I indict myself–I have been on the receiving end of mistreatment, and I have been on the end that is angry and judgmental of others. Jesus wants us to love like Him, and no follower of His should be on either of those ends.
Anxiety
And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? (Matthew 6:27).
Although the Beatitudes are the most well-known portion of the Sermon on the Mount, the entire sermon lasts three chapters (Matthew 5-7). Jesus covers a lot of ground. In this particular section (6:25-34), He exhorts us not to worry. He gives examples to drive the point home: consider that the Father feeds the birds of the air (6:26); look at the splendor of the lilies of the field (6:28-29). The Father does not give us every detail of His plan, but He promises to take care of us.
The audience that Jesus addressed faced far less of a secure life than us. Work was hard to come by, disease could quickly overtake a loved one, and human lives were not valued. There is no easy cure for anxiety. Thinking of times and places less fortunate than the United States actually makes the stakes even higher for what Jesus said. Even in times that had a fraction of the security of ours, Jesus repeats to those on the mount to not be anxious. He is specific: do not be anxious about what we eat, drink, and wear.
Jesus walked on earth and experienced all those needs and note that He does not say to have no emotional response to anxiety. A certain amount of that boils down to simply being human. Jesus counsels us to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well” (6:33).
Trust
What man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? (Matthew 7:9-10).
Jesus exhorts us to trust in this teaching. We are meant to trust the Father’s will whether in good times or in bad. I think few people have trouble with this verse in normal times—but what if the Father, in His divine plan, gives us the “bread” of suffering?
One weak analogy is trying to get my kids to eat things they do not like. If meals were up to my oldest child, he would have a steady diet of hamburgers and ice cream. With suffering, I often look at God the same way. Why can’t I pick my own cross? I want the hamburgers-and-ice-cream kind of “cross.”
Part of trust is an act of faith, that God will not abandon us. Sometimes I fear we perceive God to hand out suffering and run away, leaving us on our own. God does not leave us on our own. He gives us grace, the Holy Spirit, and the Eucharist–the true bread of suffering. We have recourse to Him in prayer. He gave us the Church to support each other.
Another part of trusting is remembering. Thinking back on certain times of suffering in my life, I grew in ways I never thought I would. In hindsight, I am thankful for the painful times in a way that I never could while I was undergoing them. Suffering exacts a toll on our spiritual, emotional, and often physical health. As hard as it is, what graces await down the road? What areas of personal growth?
Faith
Do you believe that I am able to do this? (Matthew 9:28)
So much has been stripped away from our regular lives since COVID. So many tragedies, social events, and the complete disruption of COVID have rocked the world over the last two years. We cannot say with full knowledge why God permits things like that to happen, but we can assert that the ultimate reason behind it is the salvation of souls. The Lord intends to do some good with these awful things.
I see this question from Our Lord in 2021 asking: do you believe that I am able to heal you? Do you believe that I am able to save you? That I am enough for you? At times in my life, the tallest hurdle in my spiritual life has been believing Jesus truly loves me. Once we have that question answered, look out world! It carries over into our friendships, marriages, work-life, and more. I encourage you to sit with the Lord in prayer and fill in your own ending to the question.
Alertness
Are you still sleeping? (Matthew 26:45)
After the Last Supper, Jesus and the apostles retired to the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus withdrew to pray and the apostles could not stay awake. This question in v. 45 is not the first time Jesus returned from prayer to find them sleeping. It was not the second time. It was the third time!
The agony in the garden was painful for Jesus. We know that we read it on paper, but Jesus opens His heart to Peter, James, and John. “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” (Matthew 26:38). Even to death! And they fell asleep.
It happens to Christians in every age in one way or another. Are we any better than the slumbering apostles, leaving our spiritual lives behind for the comforts of the world? Or entertainment, or other selfish pursuits? The Church is being assailed from without and within, from top to the bottom. The Body of Christ is in agony. Just as Our Lord ultimately went to the cross, His bride will soon follow. The situation of the Church will get worse before it gets better. The best thing we can do is wake up and keep watch with Jesus.
Always End with Hope
It is so easy to feel powerless; the forces raging through the world are beyond our control. Let us use these questions of Jesus to focus on what we can do. Start with repentance. Work on virtues. Seek the Lord daily in prayer. In short, do as St. James commands: “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22, RSVCE).
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