What brought this reflection on was helping with a workshop a number of weeks ago. Over the course of the workshop, I was tasked with playing a stubborn man who refused to leave the comforts of his "shack" for a much better home in God's Kingdom, in an essence, refusing to give up what is "mine" for the sake of what God has for me. It was fun to be able to put my (not so) brilliant acting skills to good use- but this activity really made me think about the ways in my life which I am comfortable, and refusing to move on to better things, whether it be anger, judgments of others, thoughts and fantasies that run wild in my brain, or anything else like that.
Now, I know from experience that it's not easy to let old habits, old dreams, old ways of thinking go. But the fact is that as I've looked back at my life, I've come to realize that it is only by letting something go that we are able to truly see if (or how) that thing is meant to be in our life. Often, it does come back to us, but in a manner completely different from what we could have ever expected. I have seen this be especially true in relationships- once you let go of your own selfish wants and desires for that relationship, and allow God to guide it, the relationship flourishes in unimaginable ways, and it becomes a very beautiful thing, even if it's not what anyone was expecting!
The same is true of our journey with Christ. It is very tempting to think that we've grown enough, and settle into complacency and comfort, and say we have no more need to change, but this is not the case. Part of the Christian life entails being like the flowing river- always moving, always going closer to our goal, which is union with Christ. And the simple fact of the matter is that if we are not moving, not growing, and we are settled into our comforts, we WILL stagnate and die. It will not be a physical death, but rather a spiritual one.
In the workshop, at the end of the activity, my character was faced with a choice- leave his comfort zone, and embark on a journey to the unknown, or remain and be taken over by the demons that were going to possess the neighborhood. We have the same choice- do we allow God to lead us into the unknown, even though we run the risk of facing anger, hatred, rejection, and maybe even death for the sake of the Gospel? Or do we stay in our comfort zones, and risk losing eternal life?
Yes, it is true that authentically living the Gospel is difficult, but that is what we are called to do. To constantly seek to better ourselves, so that we may be faithful ministers of the Gospel to others. If we can do this, we can bring about a change in the world, and hopefully begin to heal some of the ills that the Church has caused by withdrawing into itself, and trying to "separate" itself from the world, instead of being fully immeshed in the world. I leave you with a very powerful quote by Pope Francis, said during the meetings before the Conclave that elected him to lead the Catholic Church:
“We need to come out of ourselves and head for the periphery. We need to avoid the spiritual sickness of a Church that is wrapped up in its own world: when a Church becomes like this, it grows sick. It is true that going out onto the street implies the risk of accidents happening, as they would to any ordinary man or woman. But is the Church stays wrapped up in itself, it will age. And if I had to choose between a wounded Church that goes out onto the streets and a sick withdrawn Church, I would definitely choose the first one.”
May Pope Francis' words be an example to us all.
