Sexagesima Sunday 4.2.18 Perseverance
If we fill in the Census form we put down ‘Catholic’. By all
means put it on the form, but it has to be a lot more than that.
Many ‘Catholics’ are just ‘on the books’ – Catholic in name
only, not at present available for service.
The challenge to us, as we approach another Lent, is to make
sure we are fully mobilised and ready for action, and to deepen our existing commitment.
To be the fourth category in the parable of the Sower, the one
that bears a rich harvest.
The middle two categories of that parable could be
summarised as those who give up the faith because it is too hard, and because it is too
easy!
Too hard, because when trouble comes as a result of
following Christ the disciple gives up the struggle. And too hard, because the
moral demands seem to be set very high.
Too easy, because being Christ’s disciple can be easily
watered down to being indistinguishable from anyone else.
Too hard? The grace of God makes it easy, or at least
manageable. The key to the process is to see the following of Christ as a joy
rather than a chore.
With sufficient help from Him we come to see that His yoke
is easy and His burden light (Mt 11,30).
The closer we come to Him the more we start to see things
His way, and we simply agree with His will.
We do not kill, for example, because He does not kill. We do
not commit impure actions, because He is all pure; nor lie because He is all truth.
Temptation loses its power as we grow stronger in
understanding of what is at stake.
Too easy? We are tempted to say it is easy to follow Christ
because we can allow ourselves to be just the same as everyone else.
What happened to John the Baptist, with his locusts and wild
honey? What happened to Our Lord with His forty days fast? No need for such
extremes anymore – some say.
We have re-interpreted being a disciple of Christ to mean
one who makes no trouble for anyone else. A very mild interpretation of the
Gospel.
Did Christ come from Heaven to teach us this? That to follow
Him is to be the same as those who do not follow Him?
It is not so easy as that, but it is not so hard either,
when we understand that following Christ is the happiest possible course of
action at any given time.
He is the source of all goodness, so to be near Him is to be
near a goldmine; and anywhere else is a bad place to be, by comparison.
He makes it ‘easy’ for us, or at least easier, in proportion
to how often and how seriously we ask Him.
If we stop praying we stop receiving the graces, and then we
fall into either the ‘too hard’ or ‘too easy’ trap.
St Paul spells out how much trouble he took to stay on his
course (epistle). He was called to a lot more than the average disciple, but
the principle applies to all of us: My
grace is sufficient for thee (2 Co 12,9).
We have to be like soldiers, ready for action at any time, and
never disputing orders.
If Christ is first, everything else finds its proper place.
That is all He is asking of us. Just let things be as they are supposed to be,
and God knows how that is; so we just let Him tell us!
And thus we deliver a harvest of good works.
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