Prayer
for the Day
“O Lord, remember the word
you spoke to me, your servant, which made me live in hope and consoled
me when I was downcast.” (Ps. 119, 49-50)
Reflection
Sorry about no posts Friday or Saturday night—I was experiencing
a bit of lethargy. I thought tonight
might be another night to just let it go, but the readings at Mass were
powerful for me today; almost as though they were “Spiritual Wheaties”. And, since I had a rather long drive from
home to Fresno (a full stomach makes me sleepy, and a ride seem longer), I had
plenty of time to meditate on them.
Several well-known sayings were going through my mind as I
listened to the readings today; “Better late than never!” “You’re just paying “lip service”.” “You can talk the talk, but you don’t walk
the walk.”
In all three readings (and the Psalm) God is giving us advice on
when to change our minds, and when not to. If we're pretty well secure in
habits of virtue, then it's not a good idea to give in to the persuasions of
friends who call us old-fashioned or foolish for following the teachings of our
parents and childhood religion classes - and act contrary to our principles. To
change because of fear of losing face or being the butt of ridicule could risk
God's displeasure, loss of grace, and even loss of eternal happiness.
There's another kind of change discussed in the readings. And
that's the kind of change that may be defined as conversion - from sinful ways
to virtuous ones. The prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 18:25-28) tried to persuade his
fellow-exiles in Babylon that, as long as they persisted in their sinful
rejection of God's commandments, God would continue their exile. When they
refused to change, God allowed the destruction of the Temple as well as the
whole city of Jerusalem. Eventually, they stopped blaming God for their crimes,
repented of their stubbornness, and again followed the commandments.
That's the kind of change that also won the approval of Jesus in
today's Gospel (Matthew 21:28-32). The first son in the parable stubbornly said
"no" to his father's request. He was ready to risk the father's
displeasure and even punishment. Then, wisely, he began to feel guilty. He
decided it wouldn't kill him to cut short a good time with his friends to work
for his father. Let's hope that it was really love that made him change his
mind. But even if it was just shame, and maybe a little fear of the
consequences of his refusal, he did change his mind.
This brings to mind an incident we (Marilyn and I) had with Lily
this weekend. Evidently sometime during
the week last week Lily started playing with an electronic alarm clock that I
keep on an end table next to the sofa in our family room and somehow set it
off. Marilyn told her quite sternly that
she was not to touch the alarm clock again.
So when I was watching her while Marilyn was out shopping, she
thought it would be her chance to play with it again. I didn’t know about Marilyn’s admonition to
Lily at this point, and I thought it was “cute” that she was reading the
numbers and telling me about the clock.
Marilyn came in the door, and Lily immediately dropped the clock on the
floor, then smiled at Marilyn as if to say, “Who, me?”
Marilyn expressed disappointment in Lily and she came to me for
comfort. A little later, I saw her
inching close to the clock again, and just as she was about to touch it, I
gently reminded her that “Mar-Mar” doesn’t like it when she plays with the
clock. She backed right off. My thought was that she was not really
concerned about a possible spanking; rather, she was more concerned about
losing Marilyn’s approval than with playing with the clock! She doesn’t know it, but Lily taught me
something. She did not want to do
anything that would keep her Mar-Mar from loving her, even for a minute! And neither do I want to do anything that would
separate me from my Loving Father, even for a second! But, just as I know Lily will probably try to
play with the clock when she thinks no one is looking and I (and Mar-Mar) will
forgive her, so it is with me and God. I
try not to offend Him, but I am weak. I
am ever so grateful that His love is greater than my weakness.
How do we know when to change our minds and when not to? Saint
Paul gives us sound advice: "Do nothing out of selfishness . . . rather,
have that mind in you which is in Christ Jesus who humbled himself even to the
point of death." (Philippians Phil 2:1-11)
To change one's mind is often humbling, especially if we risk the
ridicule of worldly friends or even worldly family members. But isn't it far
better to heed the truth than to stubbornly keep to the road that will
eventually send us over a cliff?
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