All the readings for today speak of urgency: "Forty days more" (Jonah 3: 4), "the appointed time has grown short" (1 Cor 7: 29) and "The time is fulfilled" (Mark 1: 15). Do we feel a sense of urgency in our own lives? How often do we get stuck in a spiritual rut? We are sometimes criticized by other Christians who see us going through our ritual actions as doing so unthinkingly or simply by rote. I do not think that this is entirely true but do I give anyone that impression? Ongoing reading and self-education is an important part of our contemporary Christian journey. We need to use foremost the resources that the Church gives us such as the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the documents of the Second Vatican Council along with the teachings of Popes Francis, Benedict XVI and Pope St John Paul II. Not everything in the mass media or on the internet is to be trusted. Above all our prayer life and attendance of the sacraments needs to be full, conscious and active so that we are attentive to what the Church is teaching us in the readings and the prayers. We will do this if we will realize how precious time is and the need to be ready to vindicate our faith through our conduct and understanding: "Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting of the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence." (1 Peter 3: 15)
No comments:
Post a Comment