Denver Catholic

14 MARCH 7-13, 2015 | DENVER CATHOLIC Perspectives S ome months after my son-in-law, Rob Susil, died, a longtime friend asked me, in a gentle but point- blank way, "Are you still fi ghting God?" The only honest response was, "Yes." At which my friend said, simply, "You're not going to win, you know…" I think back on that exchange now, during the Lent following the fi fth anniversary of Rob's death, because Lent is the "acceptable time" [2 Cor 6:2] to ponder the mystery of su" ering and death, and what it teaches us about God's ways, our ways, and the incalculable di" erence between the two. Even after a half-decade, the death of Dr. Robert Susil makes no sense by any human calculus. He was a young man in terrifi c physical shape at the beginning of the very prime of life. He was a thoroughly converted disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, and a devoted husband and father. He was also a brilliant scientist and compassionate healer, one of the country's foremost young cancer doctors, who died of cancer after having won the esteem of his colleagues at the highest altitudes of American medicine; as one of his older Johns Hopkins colleagues said to me, at Rob's wake, "We just lost our next Nobel Prize." If that was true, I kept asking myself, why did God take him years before he had the chance to make what I'm sure would have been a historic pro-life speech while accepting one of the world's most prestigious awards? I'd probably have been watching on CNN-Purgatory, but still … why? My friend's nudge about fi ghting God prompted me to dig into the Book of Job. It's strange that the Lectionary doesn't make more use of Job during Lent, for surely this masterpiece of world literature is the apex of the Old Testament's refl ection on the unfath- omable mysteries of evil and su" ering and their relationship to God. And in Job, I began to fi nd, if not answers to Rob's death that made rational sense, then at least an answer that made sense in light of biblical faith. Job, I came to see, is the model of what an Italian biblical scholar has called "the believer who loves the true God in himself and for himself, without ulterior motives"—and does so precisely along the dark path of su" ering. It is Job, sitting amidst misery, who rejects his friends' calculating, facile suggestions about why bad things happen to good people. It is Job who, in the end, refuses to cram the divine will and purpose onto the procrustean bed of human wisdom. It is Job who, fi nally, let's God be God—and who, by admit- ting that he is not the artisan of his own existence, makes a deeper act of faith in the God whose divine "logic" in beyond anything human minds can grasp. Robert Charles Susil, I came to under- stand, was another of those righteous men who loved the true God "in himself and for himself," making no bargains in the process. And if he could approach the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that way, how could I do less? So while I do not pretend to have gained any further insight, these past fi ve years, into the divine "logic" of Rob's life and death, sharing his Passover gave me, ulti- mately, the gift of knowing that I cannot fi ght the God in whom I profess faith each Sunday without rendering that profession of faith false—although it took me awhile to accept the gift. Lent—the Christian walk to Jerusalem with the Lord who meets his destiny there in complete submission to the Father's will—is an annual reminder that God is God and we aren't. When Jesus tells Pilate, "You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above" [Jn 19:11], he is not making an abstract point in political philosophy; he is making an act of faith in the design of salvation the Father has devised. The grace to bring ourselves to embrace that design, however "illogical" it may seem, is one special grace of the 40 Days. No fi ghting God George Weigel is a distinguished senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. The Catholic Di¤ erence GEORGE WEIGEL J esus continues the "shock factor" this Third Sunday of Lent in John 2:13-25. I wonder what it was like to see him overturn the tables in the temple, and then shout out words that no one understood, "destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." He was referring to the temple of his body. They "got it" on Easter Sunday. You're a temple too, you know. St. Paul reminds us of that: "Do you not know that your bodies are tem- ples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own." You receive the Eucharist. You are a tab- ernacle. You're sacred. God doesn't hate our sins because he fi nds us dis- gusting. He hates our sin because it's not worthy of us. I'll never forget when my son, Ethan, was fi rst learning about modesty as a little boy. He saw a billboard of a half-clothed woman, looked up at me, and said "That's gross, right Dad?" "No, Ethan," I said. "That's not gross. That's too sacred and too beautiful to be thrown on a billboard." This way of looking at our own sin is revolution- ary: it should change us. It brings us from a self-loathing to striving for fulfi llment. From a negative guilt that tears us down to a positive repentance that builds us up. From seeing God as a condemning boss to a supportive father. If you're doing Lent as you should, you've been refl ecting on ways you need to change to follow Jesus. Take a few minutes to examine your conscience this week, not with an eye toward your weaknesses, faults and failings, but in light of the beauty and sacredness God sees in you. You're his temple, you know. And he's pas- sionate about cleansing you, because he loves you. And with that great love in mind … don't be afraid to run to him in the sacrament of con- fession. Confessions are o" ered at most parishes weekly, and at other special times at penance services throughout the Lenten season. (If you haven't been for a while, don't worry. It's simple. The priest will guide you through it.) His love, your sin Chris Stefanick is the president of Real Life Catholic. Throughout Lent Chris will o¤ er a series of seven steps to achieve a deeper relationship with Jesus. The Way CHRIS STEFANICK Jn 2:13-25 | The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-chang- ers at their business. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; you shall not make my Father's house a house of trade." His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for thy house will consume me." The Jews then said to him, "What sign have you to show us for doing this?" Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he spoke of the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did; but Jesus did not trust himself to them, because he knew all men and needed no one to bear witness of man; for he himself knew what was in man. Sign up for the Real Life Catholic newsletter at RLCExperience.com Lent is the 'acceptable time' [2 Cor 6:2] to ponder the mystery of su• ering and death, and what it teaches us about God's ways, our ways, and the incalculable di• erence between the two." GEORGE WEIGEL " temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it Kudos Father and Chris their perfectly "perspectives" 21-27 Denver For me theme of a daily reminder: focusing focusing "the Way, the Life," material world. Thank reminder! On perspectives DENVER CATHOLIC FILE PHOTO BY JAMES BACA

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