6 – 27 – 17 The House

I think looking at the daily readings, even if we can’t take the time to go to daily Mass, is a great way to stay involved in our faith life. It takes five minutes, with a smartphone you can do it anywhere. I set it up as an email from USCCB so I even get a notification reminding me to do it. I usually read them during the time I would be wasting anyways. If I’m eating breakfast alone and I’d otherwise be reading the news or scrolling through some social media site filled with things I’m not interested in I'll look at the readings. I actually got into the habit by doing it during my morning trip to the toilet. Which may seem pretty funny, I think it is (six-year-old humor), but I think it’s fitting as well. As the scriptures say there is a season for every activity under Heaven; I think this could be extended to mean that anything we’re biologically constrained to do must be able to be done in a holy way.

It may not be terribly important, it may not lead to any great insights directly, but it is another channel for Christ to penetrate into our lives and sew his goodness. I just thought of an analogy a moment ago for this idea of opening ourselves up to Christ.

Imagine you’re living in a dilapidated mansion. It was once, and could be again, a beautiful home for many people, but there is methane seeping up from the ground and lead paint on the walls, unless you keep the house well ventilated you’ll get sick. As the windows are quite old, they don’t stay up well and you’ll usually find them shut again a couple hours after you opened them, though some stay up better than others. Some windows may only need to be put open once, though they may be very heavy. Others need to opened again constantly, though the entirety of the effort is in remembering to do so.

If Jesus is the fresh air, we simply need to open ourselves. And just as sometimes you won’t get a draft unless two windows on opposite sides of a long room are open, sometimes seemingly disparate parts of our lives can affect each other. Likewise, we have a tendency to compartmentalize, to think and behave as though different aspects of our lives are completely separate, but this won’t result in good ventilation. Let’s open all the doors, let’s be the same person to our neighbors as our parents as our friends. Though we may play different roles within different groups, let’s not wear masks.

And just as Jesus tells us in the Gospel, if we are to keep this house clean and healthy we must not sleep for then all the windows would fall shut. Not to mention the night air is often the cleanest, sweetest, and coolest. I think this has some parallel to our spiritual lives. If we’re still awake in our faith when most people would be asleep, say when things are going very well materially, I think we will reap some unique and valuable fruits from this observance.

I think the cliché that troubles are the only thing that will teach us needs to be tempered. Lincoln said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." It is easier to trust in God when we have nothing else we could put our trust in, so let’s not forget Him when we are prospering, just as He did not forget us when we struggled. When we are in a humble state, humility is a natural state of mind, but to really learn self-denial let us have access to some luxuries. To really learn humility, let’s see how we respond to bit of accolades and praise. Every opportunity and moment in our life is given to us as a chance to learn from God. He does not give empty rewards or empty struggles. Everything, every moment and person we encounter is targeted therapy for a weakness in our souls, we must submit to taking our medicine and recognizing it as such.