Ostium Catholic

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own. Peter writes this to people who are outsiders in the Roman Empire - sojourners and aliens - and names them with the most elevated identity in the Hebrew tradition. The identity is given before the conduct is asked for. You are royal because of the calling, not because of the achievement.

Bartimaeus has nothing except his cry. He is blind, on the roadside, and everyone tells him to be quiet. He cries out all the more. Jesus stops. The faith that saves him is exactly this: the unstoppable cry that does not defer to the crowd's assessment of whether he deserves an audience.

In your twenties the identity Peter names can feel aspirational rather than actual - chosen, royal, holy seem like descriptions of someone further along. But Peter is writing to new believers in difficult circumstances and naming what they already are. You have tasted that the Lord is good. The tasting is the entry into the identity, not the achievement of it.

You have tasted that the Lord is good. Name one specific way you have tasted his goodness in the last week. Say it out loud or write it down. The announcing of his praises starts with the naming of what has actually been tasted.

Lord, I want to see. Not in general - specifically, the next thing on the way. I throw off whatever is covering me. Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in you. Amen.