“Holy Spirit, come and renew my way of thinking. I want to become a vessel of your grace and power, and I know I cannot do this on my own. Spirit, make your thoughts my thoughts and your desires my desires!”
Reflection
The boss planned on taking this weekend off, so I had to fill in for him. This isn’t usually a problem, unless he is scheduled in the one department I am the weakest. I feel so incompetent when I have to do this part of our job. I also hate having to tell customers I can’t serve them properly because of the volume of business, and dearth of product.
I managed to muddle my way through Friday, grousing and moping all day and generally dreading Saturday. I could tell everyone was having fun with my discomfort at first, but as the day wore on they were getting a little tired of my juvenile whining. I thought I knew how to fix that—I would pray that Jesus deliver me from having to work in that department by giving me something I knew how to do. I’ve mentioned many times on this blog that I believe God answers my prayers. I forgot that He answers them on His terms, not mine.
So when my cell phone rang at about 9am, I thought, “Here is the phone call that will deliver me from this trap!” And sure enough, it got me out of traffic. Unfortunately, the message was that Mom had taken a tumble and hit her head and she was in the hospital! I quickly left for home, praying for Mom’s health and a safe drive to see her, along with an aside to Jesus; “Lord, thank You for delivering me from Traffic Department duties, but did You have to be so dramatic?” By the way, Mom just had a bump on her head and was being released just as I got to the doors of the hospital. I had no wait at all! Praise be to God.
In last Sunday’s readings, Peter was given the keys to the kingdom, and in this week's readings, he nearly gets them taken away from him! Jesus is so upset with him that He exclaims, "Get thee behind me, Satan." Tough language! Peter got himself in trouble for strongly protesting Jesus' prediction of His Passion. In effect, Jesus is telling His disciples, "I never promised you a rose garden!" He could just as well have said, “Peter, I just made you the foreman of a project that will change the world, and you want to stand in the way of that progress by changing the Father’s eternal plan! Stand back, shut up, and learn!”
He also chastises Peter for “thinking not as God does, but as humans do.” Ouch. That hit a nerve with me after the way He answered my simple prayer to get out of an unpleasant task this morning. I was expecting to be asked to go out in the field and work with the managers or even transfer equipment around—anything to get me out of the traffic department! Instead, He substituted one form of "suffering"--my discomfort at work--with another--my worry about Mom's condition!If we think Jesus is unfair, His Father had done this before. Jeremiah, in the first reading, had been made a reluctant prophet. Jeremiah even claims that God duped him into the job. He's so angry and discouraged at the rough treatment he has to take from his own Jewish people that he decides to quit.
However, he can't get rid of the fire in his heart, so he continues to prophesy that Babylon was chosen as God's instrument for chastising Israel. Why? Because Israel was just plain unfaithful, and they deserved punishment. Not that the truth makes a prophet's job any easier!
God has called all of us to discipleship, and we must be prepared for opposition. It goes against popular thinking and popular belief to be either a prophet or an apostle. How about just a plain, ordinary Christian? We don't fare any better. We get criticized at home, at the office, and even sometimes in Church from more comfortable Church members.
How many times in our lives have we felt that Jesus' teaching was just too much? We don't like turning the other cheek, or forgiving seventy times seven. We don't like being criticized or even ridiculed for standing up for Church teaching on abortion, or contraception, or stem cell research - or the death penalty. Even if we're loyal and faithful we don’t get a break. We still have suffering to endure, whether it be family squabbles, illnesses, old age, unexpected deaths of family or friends, or having to perform tasks we don’t feel qualified to handle.
St. Paul gives us some very good advice in today's second reading. (You might even mark your bible, even memorize it!) "Do not conform yourselves to this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind" and "offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God."
Following Christ isn't for the faint of heart! We didn't know what life was really like when we were children, and neither did we know all the challenges of being a Catholic Christian. But that was a long time ago, and hopefully, we've grown up since then. So let's stir up our courage and readjust our priorities.
The cross is not an event of time, but the time-bound movement toward our own Jerusalems and resurrections. “Get up!” the voice said to Jeremiah, to Jesus, to Peter, and to each of us who hobble after the Master. We show up waiting for Him to show up and raise us all and that is the “conduct” of holiness.
Remember, as they say in the theater; there IS a final act! It’s called Resurrection.
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