Getting out of the parking lot

 

Some of the funniest, but more profound experiences in my life growing up was my dad’s commentary each Sunday when he would pick us up from Mass.  (He was non-Catholic, so he would drop Mom and us off, go home for a bit, then come and get us as Mass ended).  Invariably, there would be tires screeching, horns blaring, and the occasional expletive being hurled by someone who presumably just listened to a Gospel, and Dad would say, “It’s easier to get out of jail than it is to get out of this parking lot after the Mass!”

As I’ve gotten older, I realize Dad’s sentiments were not his alone.  I’ve heard others who comment about people who faithfully attend Mass on Sundays, yet in the parking lot immediately after Mass, it’s as if none of what they heard, did, or sang at the liturgy “stuck” or made a difference in their lives.  Attending Mass is just a rote exercise so they can fulfill the requirements for being a “good Catholic”, but their faith doesn’t change their hearts or affect their day.

Paul had the opposite experience in Philippi (Acts 16:11-15).  On the Sabbath, Paul and his traveling companions went outside the bustling city to pray.  A key point, however, is the people who just “happened” to be at that same spot Paul was heading.  These weren’t old friends, but simple people who “happened by the grace of God” to be there.  Lydia was one of those people.  We learn that God “opened her heart” to what Paul was saying.  Lydia and her household were baptized and then she invited them to her home.  She was just an ordinary person, like you and me, and yet God powerfully intervened in her day-to-day life and the lives of her family to make a life changing impact.

Think about that for a minute. When is the last time you celebrated Mass in the community and allowed the message to so deeply sink into you that it changed your plans and actions going forward?

It may seem unrealistic that such a conversion could happen every Sunday.  But is it?  Jesus’ teachings are deeply challenging, especially to those of us in privileged Western society.  If we aren’t changing our actions and plans as a result, then we aren’t listening.  It won’t always be such a major change as Lydia experienced.  Although we need to remain open to that possibility, it’s admittedly less frequent.  Yet we need to constantly be growing and changing in our faith or risk having it die.

I try to reflect on the lessons I learn each day through the Scriptures, pray with them, open my heart to God, and challenge myself to let them affect my life in at least some way.  I find that often the lessons build on each other, which means that over time I’m learning significant lessons and making necessary adaptations.  I’m constantly being confronted with ways I fall short of the Gospel.  It’s humbling, sometimes to the point of discouragement.  Yet God calls me on.  

If I could impart just one piece of advice I learned from Paul’s experience in Acts, it would be to consciously try to be a little more like Lydia and a little less focused on getting out of the parking lot!