“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” Great beginnings, like those opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities, are more memorable than most endings. Because when we open the first page of a novel or watch the curtain rise on a play, we are charged with anticipation.
“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times,” is a great beginning precisely because it describes the paradox of anticipation. We’re roused by the rivalry between best and worst, two superlatives both as uncompromising as life and death: One must end if the other is to begin.
“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times” describes Thomas’ perplexing paradox of anticipation. Jesus promises him a place saying Thomas already knows the way there. But assuming this place is a destination, Thomas insists that he doesn’t know the way there. Because without knowing the end point, he can’t even decide in which direction to begin.
However, the right direction doesn’t matter because all lead to Jesus if we begin faithfully. Thus, “Have faith in God and faith also in me” is the only direction Jesus gives because it’s the only direction we need. If we begin faithfully we’ll always find Jesus in the end. That faithful beginning is how we discover that Jesus is not just a way, but He Who is the Way. That faithful first step discloses Jesus is the Way not to just a truth, but to the Truth, not to one life, but to the source of all life. However, such faith requires that we begin without knowing the end, confident that every step toward Christ during the worst of times always ends with best of times.
We seem to be in the worst of times. However, although the school year will not end as imagined, it is also the best of times. Because you get to decide the beginning of this end. You get to compose your own commencement address. Commencement means beginning. Composing your own commencement address, like penning the opening lines of a great novel, allows you to convert this year’s capricious ending into an auspicious beginning. Your commencement will charge the world with expectancy if you change the world with your fidelity. But faith always requires you to begin without knowing the end. Because you can only discover your proper end in Christ when you begin to walk in the faith of Christ. Address yourselves now to commencing that first step in faith the faith of Christ. For although you are as yet only in the lauds of your life, that first step well begun will be a far, far better thing than you have ever done. And then when the compline of your life finally closes upon your bones, it will be a far, far better rest than you have ever known.
About The Author: Conventual Franciscan Father Kenneth G. Davis is a visiting professor of spirituality and spiritual director at the Saint Joseph College Seminary in Louisiana.
Photo by Terrence Thomas on Unsplash
- 4 Practical Ways To Share Your Faith
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly Jesus commanded us to “proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). We hear that call, but have no idea what to do with it on a Tuesday afternoon. Evangelization causes us to picture the street preacher with a bullhorn, or the argument that ruined someone’s Thanksgiving, or the… Read more: 4 Practical Ways To Share Your Faith - One Catholic’s Thoughts About AI: Friend Or Foe?
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly Artificial intelligence has not changed how I write my articles, but to some extent it has changed the research process. While I have to be careful to verify information and sources, I would never depend upon it to write material for me or for editing. I suppose you could… Read more: One Catholic’s Thoughts About AI: Friend Or Foe? - A Call To Spiritual Arms: Re-evangelizing Divorcing And Divorced Catholic Men
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly Re-evangelizing Divorcing and Divorced Catholic Men as Soldiers of Christ and Defenders of our Faith in a Time of Crisis In May of 1565 on the heels of a decade’s long sweep across eastern Europe, Sultan Suleyman dispatched over 25,000 Ottoman Soldiers and mercenaries to invade Malta, a small… Read more: A Call To Spiritual Arms: Re-evangelizing Divorcing And Divorced Catholic Men - How The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion Will Celebrate The Solemnity On October 9
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly There is something special about the town of Champion in the fall. As the leaves begin to change color throughout northeast Wisconsin, we prepare for one of the most meaningful celebrations of the year at The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion: the Solemnity of Our Lady of… Read more: How The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion Will Celebrate The Solemnity On October 9 - Saint Quotes About Our Lady Of Sorrows And Understanding This Devotion
Facebook Pinterest Gmail LinkedIn Print Friendly Our Lady of Sorrows, also known as “Mater Dolorosa” in Latin, is a prominent title for the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Catholic Church. The title honors her intense suffering and grief during the Passion and death of her Son Jesus. The Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady… Read more: Saint Quotes About Our Lady Of Sorrows And Understanding This Devotion
