“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. (Matthew 7:21)
Ay, there’s the rub—how to know the will of the Father
St. Cyprian wrote a beautiful treatise about this, about all of the Lord’s prayer. Cyprian was born in 210 in Carthage. In those days, Carthage had a proud heritage as one of the great cities of the ancient world. In Cyprian’s day it was part of the Roman Empire (in contemporary terms it was located in Tunisia).
He practiced law. He converted to Christianity and was made bishop of Carthage in 249. During the persecution of the emperor Valerian, Cyprian was tried and executed in 258.
Here’s what he wrote about the will of the Father:
. . . Your will be done on earth as is in heaven; we pray not that God should do his will, but that we may carry out his will.
How could anyone prevent the Lord from doing what he wills? But in our prayer we ask that God’s will be done in us, because the devil throws up obstacles to prevent our mind and our conduct from obeying God in all things.
So if his will is to be done in us we have need of his will, that is, his help and protection. No one can be strong by his own strength or secure save by God’s mercy and forgiveness.
Even the Lord, to show the weakness of the human nature which he bore, said: Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, and then, by way of giving example to his disciples that they should do God’s will and not their own, he added: Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will
All Christ did, all he taught, was the will of God:
– humility in our daily lives
– an unwavering faith
– a moral sense of modesty in conversation
– justice in acts
– mercy in deed
– discipline
– refusal to harm others
– a readiness to suffer harm
– peaceableness with our brothers
– a whole-hearted love of the Lord
– loving in him what is of the Father
– fearing him because he is God
– preferring nothing to him who preferred nothing to us
– clinging tenaciously to his love
– standing by his cross with loyalty and courage whenever there is any conflict involving his honor and his name
– manifesting in our speech the constancy of our profession and
– under torture confidence for the fight, and
– in dying the endurance for which we will be crowned.
This is what it means to wish to be a coheir with Christ, to keep God’s command; this is what it means to do the will of the Father.
(Second Reading, Office of Readings, Wednesday, Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time, The Liturgy of the Hours)
Even though Cyprian wrote this reflection over 1,700 years ago, it’s still a great advice and challenge for you and me today.
2 August 2020