Sexagesima Sunday 3.2.13 Engagement
A young lady during the week was travelling on a plane which had to descend rapidly to restore the right air pressure. It was a scary experience but they were not really in danger. She said, You see this kind of thing in the movies; you don't expect it to happen to yourself.
We might be moved by what happens in a film but we still feel detached from it. We know we can walk away when the film is over.
We can be ‘detached’ from real life too but we really cannot afford to be.
The parable of the Sower describes different levels of real-life response.
The parable sets out four groups of responses. The second and third categories are the most common, for those who identify as disciples. Either through fear of suffering, or through being lured away by worldly pleasures, or both, we can be detached from the full engagement with Our Lord to which He calls us.
We try to have it both ways; to be disciples of Christ but also to seek our own happiness here in this life. This is to be half in and half out, to have one foot in each camp.
(It is possible to be happy in both spheres but we cannot do that by only half committing to Him. Only by full commitment.)
So how do we get from the pitfalls to the final category: those who are fully in union with Our Lord and bearing a rich harvest?
We have to let ourselves be engaged with Him.
It is like that experience where finally it is happening to me, not just someone else, somewhere else, but ME.
We are in the middle of the story. When we witness Our Lord being crucified we are not just watching from the side but we also are crucified with Him, or at least willing to be.
This is why the apostles ran away; but that is not an option anymore..
This is an interactive experience. It may be more than we wanted but we will eventually be glad to have gone through it all.
Coming to Mass, for example, can be a fairly remote experience, a little like watching a film. One could just ‘watch’ a Mass; let it pass in front of us, without becoming much involved.
Or one can be fully immersed in the drama that is happening; see the Mass as a direct personal encounter with Our Lord. This is a very different matter.
He knows all our secrets, all our hopes and fears. He wants us to understand this and engage with Him, encountering Him in all His aspects, crucified and risen.
He can do this with each of us at the same time. We do not know each other’s detailed dramas but we can pray that each one of us arrive where we need to be.
Each person is a different story but what He wants is our attention, our engagement, our heart and mind riveted on Him, seeking what we should do. Speak, Lord, your servant is listening, Please tell me what to do. Give me courage when I am afraid; give me wisdom to seek the full treasure not just part.
He will do this if we let Him; if we seek Him out. But not if we are just watching from the side.
We have to get to that fourth group. Only by grace; we could never do it ourselves.
In practice it means ironing out all our bad habits and faults; attending to every detail of our daily lives. We may not have major sins to repent of but we could all use improvement. Gradually we extricate ourselves from the snares around us, the wrong thinking, the false goals – and only the Lord remains. Having got so far we make sure we stay there, again with His help.
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