I admire people who have a vision and who are faithful in achieving that vision. The other day I was reading about Robert Kennedy. He seemed to have struck a chord with many people. He was seen by many as continuing the dream of his brother John. He gave people a sense of hope and a sense of purpose for their lives. He was young, energetic, full of ideas and very lively. I am sure that he also possessed many faults and that everything did not go smoothly in his life, yet he had an aura of leadership that made people wanting to follow him. He had the common touch and he managed to instil an understanding in many that every little effort and task that we all do can have a great bearing for the benefit of all. He would always insist that we ought never underestimate the good that we are able to do for ourselves and for others. And all of this starts by being faithful to the most basic and ordinary ways striving and acting.

In 1966 during one of his speeches he made the following remark, ‘Each time a man stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope and crossing each other from a million different centres of energy and daring these ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance”. This is precisely what animated his life and he paid the ultimate price for these principles. Nevertheless Robert Kennedy is still alive in the heart and minds of many as someone whose guidance and vision are well worth serious reflection and implementation.

I was also struck this week by the funeral of Joshua Porter, a member of the Special Air Service Regiment. As we all remember about four months ago one of our ships HMAS Kanimbla was part of a task force on standby to evacuate Australian nationals from Fiji amid rising tensions before the last military coup. As a Blackhawk helicopter was trying to land on the ship something went wrong. It fell into the sea and two military personnel died one of whom was Joshua Porter, a would be father of his first child. What struck me is the fact that over these four months, those responsible felt the necessity and the need to retrieve the body of Joshua Porter which lay in a depth of 3000 metres. It did not matter how much it was going to cost or what difficulties had to be faced, the most important factor was to achieve what is proper and what was considered to be most important. I admire that attitude.

And so I go back to Paul, because as believers in Jesus Christ we have someone whom we can follow and imitate. In today’s reading he says very plainly that when he looks at his life all that matters is to know Jesus Christ. Everything else pales into insignificance. Everything else has to be related to the basis fact “I believe nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For him I have accepted the loss of everything and I look on everything as so much rubbish if only I can have Christ and be given a place in him ……All I want is to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and to share his sufferings by reproducing the pattern of his death.” (Phil 3:8-9, 11). This is what motivated Paul to be able to be the person that has had such an amazing influence in the lives of so many over the past two thousand years.

This attitude is the result of much reflection and also of a certain amount of pain and disappointment. In his second letter to the people of Corinth, Paul is very forthcoming in describing what he went through because of his decision to follow Jesus Christ and to base his life and way of thinking on the teachings and values of Jesus. He was ridiculed so often. He suffered hunger and thirst. He was gossiped about by those whom he thought were his friends and by those in whom he believed would always come to his aid. He was whipped and insulted. He suffered at least three shipwrecks and he had to endure extreme weather patterns in order to continue with his mission. Over all of this, his greatest worry were the fellow Christians themselves who tried to live the radical way of thinking that is a natural consequence of following Jesus. (2 Cor 11)

However, his catch cry was a phrase that he constantly repeated. “I can do everything in Jesus who strengthens me”. (Phil 4:13). Paul never said “I can do some things” or that “I can do most things”. He had a deep conviction that here is nothing that he could not achieve whenever he stays close to Jesus Christ, whenever he lets himself be guided by the example of ideals of Jesus Christ. I am thrilled with this attitude, because this is precisely what keeps me going.

As believers in Jesus Christ we can offer something unique to those people whom we encounter and to those who are close to us. As human beings we all have our problems to face and challenges to meet. All of us enjoy those moments of happiness and tranquility and also those moments when we feel dejected and heavy laden. During these times of negativity, we are called not panic or to give up. Neither are we called to retreat in a dark corner by ourselves and keep re-living our moments of hurt and fear. During those moments let us keep repeating the phrase of Paul, “I can do everything in Christ who strengthens me”.

And so we pray, “Lord Jesus Christ, here I am today. You know very well what gives me joy and what is troubling me. I thank you for the good qualities that you have given to me. Help me to use my talents and gifts to be faithful to my responsibilities and to be of service to others. Deepen my walk with you so that I gradually become more conscious that wherever I am, you are there too. I am never alone.” Amen.

God Bless