Perspective – it paints the way we see the world around us. In the gospel we read how after following Jesus for three years, hearing his preaching, witnessing miraculous healings, and being privy to private instruction, the disciples still did not get it – their perspective was still misaligned. As Jesus would begin the last chapter of his life, we find them arguing about who is the greatest among them. They just didn't get it. These, his chosen, were still playing politics, wedded to their long-held perspective that it was power, authority, respect, and greatness that meant something, that held value.
We know that our Christian life demands of us something entirely different. Our second reading lists some of the qualities we are to have and hold. These are forged in a wisdom shared with us by way of the Holy Spirit. We are to be peaceable, full of mercy, sincere and bearing good fruit. We are to be constant and to control our passions. This is not the way of the ungodly as we hear in our first reading. Their perspective is that life is short and meaningless and so they seek pleasure and power while there is still time. And they do not need to be reminded, warned, or corrected of their erroneous and self-destructive ways. And if they are, they will see this as an affront and so may respond with a mighty, heavy and unrestrained hand. As then, so today. Just try to share the perspective that marriage is only between one man and one woman, or that the unborn have dignity and value and a God given right to life. The hackles rise as the sleeves are rolled up. The message of life is not everywhere welcome.
Power, authority, respect, and greatness - the distractions of this world that many pursue with a passion. We love our apostles since they were similarly deluded and shackled. But ultimately, they grew to understand. The apostles show us that despite a rocky path, persistence and courage elicit change – a change in life and ultimately a real change in perspective.
This week we are invited to shift our perspective – to change our position to more clearly see the truth of it and to 'get' what Jesus is telling us. But what is the engine of this change and how do we go about finding the new freedom that comes with it? The answer is – prayer time. I heard a priest share recently that in hearing the same sin confessed multiple times, he typically asks the penitent to describe his or her prayer life. Most, he notes, reply that they pray 10 minutes a day. “10 Minutes”, he exclaimed, “that is for 4th graders.” To him 10 minutes of prayer each day did not cut it. So how long should we pray each day? Bishop Fulton Sheen, whose famous TV shows can now be seen on YouTube, encouraged a holy hour every day. This is echoed by Bishop Robert Baron of modern-day social media fame. He writes, “when people invest in the presence of God their lives change, period.” He encourages us to, “Sequester some time every day to focus on the Lord.” To change from a worldly to an eternal perspective, you and I need to be disciplined in our prayer life, not compulsive but placing ourselves, as we are, in the real and living presence of God. We bring to prayer that which we are, that which we encounter in life, and that which we read in the Word of God. We must discipline our prayer life in the same way we discipline other areas of our life – going to work, studying, making the bed, washing the dishes, and so on. The author Malcolm Gladwell writes of the 10,000-hour theory – the time any beginner must spend to become an expert. 10,000 hours seems so many, but we pray when we rise in the morning. We pray before each meal, we pray during prayer time, we pray as we lay ourselves down to sleep. Following the encouragement of Brother Lawrence, a 17th Century Carmelite brother, we practice the presence of God at each moment throughout the day, so each moment becomes a prayer. We can soon become a 10,000-hour master. There is a well-known adage in clerical circles that a cleric who does not pray should wear a T-shirt that says, “I don’t pray, stay away”. Meaning a lack of prayer makes a clerical life hollow and fruitless. But this is not just for clerics since, by virtue of our baptism, we all carry a priestly responsibility and duty and none of us should lead a hollow and fruitless life.
We are encouraged by the lives of the apostles, who slowly and painstakingly grew in understanding until the moment the spirit washed over them. From that moment, their perspective on the world would change for ever. We are in possession of that same Holy Spirit. We are to bestir this spirit by means of a disciplined prayer life. We are to pray as a people determined to meet and know the Lord. The disciples radically changed their perspective from the worldly to the eternal, despite their stubbornness, by staying close to Jesus. We can do no less – in fact we must, at any cost, do the same.
Saint James and Saint John – pray for us.
Deacon Peter Bujwid, Saint Agnes
Arlington, MA.
Sunday 22nd September 2024
