August 8, 2010 Cycle C
Wisdom 18:6-9 Hebrews 11:1-2,8-19 Luke 12:32-48
The Gospel words might strike us as startling, “gird your loins and light your lamps.” This is an instruction for readiness that has its origin in Roman times. The soldiers were taught to draw up and fasten their tunics between their legs to give them more mobility and agility in preparation for battle. It is from that insight and experience of the days of the Roman Empire that gives the background to our Gospel lesson today.
As Christian disciples, we too, are told to prepare for the battle of our hearts. We must be agile and unfettered from our burdens and possessions so that we are free to follow Jesus.
People of faith the world over “gird their loins” each morning through prayers of petition and each evening through prayers of thanksgiving. And in the times in between they act in ways that reveal their faith in Divine treasures rather than earthly ones. People of faith know that their prayer and Gospel action enable them to hear Gods’ often subtle call and they are ready to act.
In the 12th Chapter of Luke’s Gospel, we are reminded about being prepared for the return of Christ, who returns to us moment by moment during the day, even though we may be unaware of His visits. Those who are called to the Christian discipline know the need to pray without ceasing is a way of really remembering God, of staying present to Christ at all times. The idea of remembering God through repetition is not foreign to our Christian tradition. Ask someone who prays the rosary regularly, or speak to one of the monks, many of them in their later years that have been chanting the psalms daily for over fifty years. I would suspect that they might agree that at first you chant the psalms, then they chant you, until finally God chants the psalms through you.
We as American Catholics have lost some of the discipline of repetition as a way of remembering God. Maybe it is time to reappropriate it. The Psalms are as close as your Bible. There are many good Catholics who could teach you the rosary. And there is a simple prayer of the pilgrim, the Jesus Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me.” You might try the Jesus prayer the next time you find yourself stuck in traffic or waiting in line at the grocery store. Repeat it as you breathe in slowly, and then out slowly. You will likely find it wonderfully calming and restorative. I’ve practiced it time and again myself. A poet once said, “The breath that does not repeat the name of God, is a wasted breath.”
Remembrance of God prepares us for worship, which is why we are gathered here today. But there is another form of worship hinted at in today’s Gospel that might go unnoticed – service. I hope it does not sound strange to you that service is a form of worship. Everything that we do to serve members of our family, our community, the people we work with, is a form of worship, which transforms us if we attend to it properly. We should feel transformed when we leave this house of worship. We should also feel transformed when we carry out a simple act of kindness for another person.
What keeps us from transforming worship is again our lack of remembrance. So much of our service is tainted by self-preoccupation. Whenever we do things in the Church, the community, anywhere, with the expectation of being recognized and thanked, or honored, then our service looses its worship quality. It becomes self-serving activity, rather than worship. Our service is transforming when we remember God, when we remember that even watering our houseplants can be a way of serving the Creator.
There is no greater way of remembering and thus worshiping God then through our service to the poor. Certainly the saints of old have taught that to us time and again. We had in our own times the great teaching of Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta, who lived a life of worship because she recognized Christ in the terrible disguise of the poor that she served daily.
There are so many opportunities for us to recognize the gift of service in action. It is the waking from a sound sleep to soothe a crying child. It is listening attentively to a spouse’s tale of frustration after a long days work. It is to drop all things to run to the aide of a friend. It is to follow a voice within, urging you to do the right thing when others tell you to take the easy way out. It is the continual way to hope in the face of disease, destruction and death. It is understanding that we are prepared to sacrifice all in the name of God who is love. “Gird your loins and light your lamps” for your reward will be great in heaven.
Amen. Amen. Msgr. Tom, Pastor Christ the King