Easter 6
May 10, 2026
Faith Is The Interpretive Key
When
Christianity came to northern Africa in the mid-300s, one effect was that
people started to read and write in Greek, rather than in the old Egyptian
hieroglyphics. After a while, everyone forgot how to read this ancient Egyptian
language. For centuries, these pictures remained a mystery to archeologists and
researchers, until a game-changing discovery in 1799: the Rosetta Stone. This
stone told the same story in three languages, allowing people to place the
Greek writing side-by-side with the hieroglyphs – and for the first time in the
modern world, archeologists were able to interpret this mysterious language.
Life can
be mysterious, too. Why are we here? What’s the meaning of suffering? How can
we find happiness? What’s the secret to a good marriage? Is there life after
death? I remember coming across a book one time entitled, “Ten Best Guesses
About Life” – the author said that he didn’t have any actual answers, but here
were his best guesses about those deep questions that plague every human being.
But
goodness, doesn’t your heart cry out for something more solid than just a “best
guess”? We need some sort of Rosetta Stone, some rock-solid interpretive key to
understanding what life is all about – and thanks be to God, we have that. It’s
our Catholic Faith.
Faith is
the interpretive key to making sense of the mystery of life. Pope John Paul II
said, “It is only in the mystery of Christ that the mystery of man truly
becomes clear.” Psychology can help us understand ourselves; therapy can give
us insights into our behavior; science can shed some light upon what it means
to be human; but only our faith in Jesus Christ shows us where we have come
from, how we are to live, and where we are ultimately going.
Where
have we come from? Many of you who grew up with the Baltimore Catechism
remember the first question: “Who made you? God made you. Why did He make you?
To know, love and serve Him so that we can be eternally happy with him in
Heaven.” It’s that simple!
How are
we to live? Jesus Christ, of course, is the model of our behavior. If you grew
up in the ‘90s like I did, you remember the phrase WWJD – What Would Jesus Do.
It was plastered on posters, tee-shirts, bracelets, every bit of Christian swag
that my youth minister could find (looking back, it was quite cringe!). A nice,
but incomplete, idea. We are to live, not just like Christ, but in intimate
union with Christ through grace. In today’s Gospel, He speaks about giving
us the Commandments…but also about giving us the Holy Spirit. We obey Him, but
with the strength given by grace. We live a pure, forgiving, merciful,
courageous, trusting, surrendered life – by His power in us.
Where
are we going? The Spirit puts the answer in our hearts – we were made for a
better world, a place without the brokenness and sin that we wallow in here.
And this
sheds light on every aspect of our lives. What is work for? For developing our
talents to the glory of God, serving others, and making it an offering to the
Lord. What is the purpose of legitimate pleasure? It is meant to be a foretaste
of Heaven. How do we have good friendships? By seeking people who are pursuing
virtues themselves, so that we may be positively influenced by them. What’s the
secret to a happy marriage? Imitating Christ’s self-sacrificing love. How can
we suffer well? By offering it up to Jesus in love, and allowing it to purge us
of our faults. How do we make good choices? By bringing them to prayer and
seeking the Lord’s will for our lives. How can we be truly happy? By loving God
with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength, and sacrificing our life
for the good of our neighbor. It is our Catholic Faith that helps us interpret
the mystery of human life!
So, I
have a homework assignment for you. Consider an aspect of your life that
perhaps you’re confused or unhappy or not at peace about. Maybe it’s a
relationship; or your marriage; or your work; or a suffering you’re enduring;
or some other stress in your life. This week, go and research what Christ has
to say about this particular topic. Don’t go looking on TikTok or Youtube; go
straight to the source: the Bible and the Catechism. The answers are there if
we know where to look!
And if
we start to see the world through the lens of our Catholic Faith, what joy and
meaning we will have! In the early 1900s, there was a young man from Poland
named Jan Tyranowski. He was a quiet man in his thirties – a tailor, an
introvert, a man who kept to himself due to his bad health and shy temperament.
One day he was at Mass when the priest said from the pulpit, “It isn’t
difficult to become a saint!” Jan realized that this was indeed his calling –
to become holy in his own life – and his ordinary life began to make sense. He
started imbuing his work with prayer; offering his bad health to God as a
sacrifice; studying the Lives of the Saints; frequenting the Sacraments. The
priest noticed that this young man became more fervent in his faith, so he
asked him to help out with the parish youth group. Reluctantly – because he was
still painfully shy – he agreed. But pretty soon, the Nazis invaded Poland and
took the priests into the Dachau concentration camp – leaving the parish
without any leadership.
So Jan
took it upon himself to keep working with the youth. He began secret weekly
meetings at his apartment where young men would gather for fellowship, a
spiritual talk, and praying the Rosary together. One day, a new young man named
Karol showed up – and was very impressed by Jan’s spirituality. Karol had been
questioning the meaning of his own life, but hearing Jan speak about everyone’s
call to holiness, he realized that this was the purpose of his existence
– to glorify and love God, and spend eternity in Heaven. Young Karol decided to
become a priest – and later on became a Pope and a saint, St. John Paul II. For
his part, Jan is now Venerable Jan Tyranowski – on the path to sainthood
himself. He sought the answers to life, and found them in Jesus Christ and his
Catholic Faith.
Life is
not a mystery when it is lived in the light of Christ, who reveals man to
himself.
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