Last Sunday's Gospel from Luke 13:22-30 spoke about those who will be saved. Jesus said this: "Try your best to enter by the narrow door, because I tell you, many will try to enter and will not succeed."
This message seemed pretty common to me, having heard it like a zillion times. I tend to focus on the first part of the message, which I interpret as doing what is right. This is often the hardest thing to do, since we all want the easy path. Father shared the Greek interpretation which was kind of enlightening. He said that to try your best in Greek meant to wrestle your way. We really have to wrestle and put in our every effort in get into that narrow door in order to be saved. Choosing the easy way is really not an option.
Throughout the week, I asked my self what it would be like to wrestle in the daily stuff that filled my day. Every time I felt lazy and in my comfort zone, I remind myself that I needed to keep going, to wrestle with my state of mind, to do the right thing. The right thing being to glorify God in my work in the laboratory, my research work at the Uni, and my work in upkeeping the home. It has been quite a struggle but at the end of it, though I cannot explain how I managed to complete the stuff that I did, I know for certain that God strengthens us in all that we do. He is our strength.
Something else that reinforced this was an article I read by Bo Sanchez. He wrote about giving our 10,000 hours in what we do and God will reward us many fold. Every time we find ourselves slacking, let us look ahead at the reward that will welcome us in God's time.
Keep me in your sight Lord and let my every waking moment do great works for you.
Last Sunday was the Assumption of our Blessed Mother Mary. As Mass began, Father shared that Mary is our hope in this world. She was brought up into Heaven body and soul, and to undertake her role as our intercessor.
Wow, what an immense realisation that indeed Mary is always interceding at the right hand of our Lord Jesus. She is interceding not for anyone but for you and me, us as individuals. That certainly gives me a whole deal of hope. In this world we live in, hope is something we fail to see everyday, though it is around us all the time. The smile from a child's face, a driver slowing down for an elderly lady to cross the street, someone holding the door for you... There are so many instances if we only open our eyes to see.
There have been days these past few weeks when I couldn't see beyond my present situation and the thought of it was very depressing. Now, I remind myself that Mother Mary is interceding for me and Angie, and we are always in her prayers. Mary is really amazing and the reason that allowed the salvation plan of God to be carried out. Her fiat with God made it possible for God to come amongst us and ultimately redempt us all.
Finally, a story that Father shared which sums up our salvation story; There was a king who wanted to see God but all the priests and bishops could not show him God. A shepherd boldly told the king that his eyes were not good enough to see God but he could see what God does. The king immediately asked the shepherd to show him what God does. To this the shepherd asked the king to exchange his royal robes for his shepherd clothes, which the king reluctantly did. The shepherd then said: "This is what God does..."
To a God who comes down to our level, to the extent of being like us, Thank you for being our saviour and friend.
We went to Mater Christi Church again last Sunday. It was a chilly morning and though the sun was up and shining magnificantly on us, we felt the chill in our bones...
It was another beautiful day and we were just taking in all that was happening around us when this family came by and sat at the pew in front of us. The grandparents brought their two little granddaughters and it was a joy watching them just being themselves. I was distracted by them for awhile until Father's sermon. What he said struck a raw nerve within me. He mentioned a story about this sick person who was told to stay indoors but he felt he really needed to go out and experience life. He finally went and he actually got better. He knew he needed it rather then justing wanting it.
It is really an art and skill to know what we really need and what we merely want. We need to learn to distinguish between our needs and wants. Catering for our needs make us better people while our wants make us unfulfilled and ironically, wanting more. Looking at my life, I find that more often than not, I seem to be catering to my wants rather than my needs. Many of my decisions are based mainly on money. It's like a vicisous cycle, on one hand wanting to earn more money so that I can purchase more stuff for myself and Angie, and in the future for our kids, and on the other hand wanting to save as much as I can for the future. It's like life being one big wheel revolving around earning, spending and saving dough. Not a very pleasant picture. It's like I'm missing out on life's real purpose, relationships and people above material things. This is especially so for those dear to me. I'm sure Angie can identify with this, me being insensitive to her feelings on most occassions.
It's going to be a long journey but I want to make it better. Where better to start than with my family. Help me Lord to know what my needs are rather than my wants and guide me through this learning process.
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