By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ
But for you who fear my name, there will arise the sun
of justice with its healing rays. Malachi 3:20A
Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for
you, so that you might imitate us. 2 Thessalonians 3:9B
“You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a
hair on your head will be destroyed. By
your perseverance you will secure your lives." Luke 25:19
Piety
One of the greatest
reflections of piety is in seeing a Contemplative in Action working as if all
the work being done was the work of the Lord. Inviting the Lord to work a 100 percent in our
lives is the format of the true Contemplative in Action. They pray so that their work might be
prayer. The pure Contemplative works
hard that they might be free to pray. The
rest of us find our vocation is to pray as if everything depended on us and to
work as if everything depended on the Lord. It is a wonderful state of mind to possess
because one is thusly no longer oppressed by their work. Once we allow our work to belong to the Lord
we no longer feel put upon when we are doing our jobs. Our Contemplative State allows us to watch the
Lord at work in how we put ourselves entirely at the beck and the call of the
Lord to use us for what needs doing in life around us.
Study
Study is the discovery by
work and reflection of how to do our jobs better. We learn how to be saints by reading the lives
of the saints to see what makes them tick. We look at people we admire for their holiness
to see what drives a person to become a saint. We learn from their discovery of Christ as
loveable. It is not just that Christ in
his humanness is the human expression of the mystery of God. His love for us calls out for a response for
his great love for us. The perpetual
question of the love of our hearts for Christ has its answer in what we are
doing out of love for the Lord. That is
how the ordinary of life becomes extraordinary. Whatever we do we try to do it out of love for
the Lord. Adversaries will be powerless
to resist what love makes it possible for us to put up with or do. We no longer have to wait on something we
think worth doing as anything done for love of the Lord is worthwhile.
Action
Our actions imitate the “Pauls”
of our lives who do not act in disorderly ways. We must try to do more than anyone has a right
to ask of us so that in giving our lives to Jesus he will be in control of our
lives. We must try to be models for
others even as St. Paul is a model for us. We try our best to work quietly for Christ and
we live our lives dependent on ourselves as long as it is possible. We earn our keep so that the gift we give of
our lives be free to all that need us. We
recognize that it is our perseverance that will secure our lives in Christ. Since we know not the day or the hour that the
Lord will come for us we live our lives as always ready for Christ. Thus for those of us who fear the Lord, the sun
of justice rises with his healing rays. The
fire that burns in our heart draws us closer and closer to living our lives
like Christ.
1 comment:
Thanks Father Joe for such helpful
thoughts! Jean
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