Every four years we experience the summer Olympics. We see athletes who have trained for years, who have disciplined their bodies ruthlessly,  given up comfort and other legitimate human pleasures, pushed themselves to the breaking point. Why? Each one hopes for the gold, even though they may have to settle for  at best  the silver or bronze. Each one hopes to make a name for himself/herself. Each one seeks the acclaim of the world.  But who remembers any of the winners from Helsinki, or Tokyo, or Mexico or Berlin?  Acclaim is short-lived, fame is fleeting, and material possessions fade.

If we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, if we neither stray to the right or the left, if we fall in love and grow in love with Jesus, then we too can exclaim with Paul: "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Trial or distress, or persecutions, or hunger, or nakedness or danger, or the sword?...For I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present not the future, nor powers, neither height nor depth nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus, our Lord" (Rom 8:35, 38-39).                 

In the words of Pope John Paul II: "Open the gates wide to Christ. Have confidence in him. Take the risk of following him. Obviously this demands that you should come out of yourselves, or your own way of reasoning, or your prudence. It demands that you leave behind your indifference, your self-sufficiency, those un-Christian habits that you have perhaps acquired. Yes; that demands renunciation, a conversion, which first of all you must want to want; want to pray for in your prayer, and want to put into practice. Let Christ be for you the way, the truth and the life. Let him be your salvation and your happiness. Let him make over the whole of your life so that with Him you can live it in all its dimensions. Let all your relationships, activities, feelings, thoughts, be integrated in Him, or, so to speak, "Christified". I wish that with Christ you may come to recognize God as the beginning and end of your existence." (John Paul II, (Parc des Princes, 1 June 1980)

The reason we become anemic spiritually is that we are like the other batteries in the Duracil Batter commercial. We don't have the extra energy to go on and on and on. We start off strong, but soon because of a drain in our spiritual energy cells, we began to slow down and come to an abrupt stop.

We need once more to catch the vision of Jesus and to become captured by the person and the vision of Jesus--the same one who motivated Paul and Peter, Mary and Martha,  Theresa of Avila and Ignatius of Loyola , John Paul II and Mother Teresa,  For them and all the great spiritual heroes and heroins of our Christian faith community, known and unknown, the vision centered on Jesus. They fell in love with the one person who had and continued to make a difference in their lives. In Jesus they had found the pearl of great price. For this relationship they were willing to sell all they had for the sake of Jesus. Like Paul they regarded all else as rubbish. They never lost sight of the goal--life on high with Christ Jesus. The call of the kingdom of God became greater than the call of the kingdom of this world. In spite of trials and difficulties, in spite of spiritual deserts and dryness, in spite of struggles with sin within their imperfect human nature, they pressed on to the finish. (To be continued)

We continue our reflection on the Bell curve. As the persons, the marriage, the movement, the group begin living out the myth experience, the initial stages are like a honeymoon. Everything seems perfect.  Even when difficulties begin to occur, they keep their eyes on and remember the myth moment by trying to make it present at this moment. But the further away they journey from that initial experience, the less power it seems to have in their lives.

After a while the human factors inevitably set in. In marriage the person is not the same as I thought I had married. The person with charisma I believed so much in and his/her vision is no longer as perfect as I had thought. I am more aware of his/her sins and imperfections. The movement I joined and became a part of no longer has the same impact in my life. I don't feel the same as I once did.  I begin to see defects in others. I am not sure if the way we have been doing things is the best way.  The human need to control and organize, the need to look for someone or something else to satisfy me, the need to reassess my situation becomes stronger.

At this point we are at the top of the Bell curve, where we would expect that all would be perfect. Instead of utopia, there is the beginning of discouragement, disillusionment, doubt, criticism, pulling back,  less commitment, questions, even anger and rebellion.

As these continue we begin to slide down the left side of the curve, getting more disgruntled and having a greater feeling of bailing out. As much as we try to pull things back to where they once were, it doesn't seem to happen.

Sociologists say  what is needed before a total crash is a return to and a re-energizing by  the myth moment experience. We need to catch the original vision again and be captured by it in a new way. Once that happens we will begin a new Bell curve, a new journey. (To be continued)

That question for Paul was not one of fatalistic despair. For he answered his own inquiry and the questions of all others straight forward in the next line: "All praise to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Rom 7:25).  This was not a new revelation for Paul. He had come earlier to this realization by a spiritual  insight  from God which he records in his Second Letter to the Corinthians: After praying to God that a certain thorn in his own life be removed, Paul was told: "My grace is enough for you, for in weakness power reaches perfection" (2 Cor 12: 9) Then Paul concludes: "So I willingly boast of my weaknesses instead, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I am content with weakness, with mistreatment, with difficulties for the sake of Christ, for when I am powerless, it is then that I am strong." (12:9-10) How many have experienced this in their lives?

Before I speak about what can we learn from Paul's teachings and experiences, let me first of all give you an illustration to keep in the back of our minds. It is called the Bell Curve. According to this sociological theory, movements, relations, businesses, follow a natural and almost predictable pattern of behavior and process. At the bottom right side of the Bell curve something happens which creates a new moment in the life of a person or persons. This is called a myth moment. Two people fall in love with each other and decide to seal their love in the union of marriage. A person meets another person who has a vision for the future and the former is captured by the latter and the vision. A new idea is generated which sparks interests among others.(To be continued)

TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY ORDINARY GOSPEL REFLECTIONS B

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, 
· This action shows his respect and reverence for Jesus. He was not worshiping Jesus because, obviously, he saw Jesus as a good man.
and asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
· The man wanted to know what were Jesus’ thoughts on the necessary requirements to enter heaven.

Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.
· Why so you think Jesus answered this way?

You know the commandments: 'You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother.'" He replied and said to him, "Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth." 
· How well do we keep the same commandments?
· Since these basically deal with our relationship with others, where do we fail in those relationships vi a vi love?

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to (the) poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." 
· The young man seems to want more than a minimal commitment, so Jesus challenges him to become a disciple by totally depending on the Master and not on his own possessions.
· We may not be called to sell everything, but we are called to become dedicated disciples. How well have we responded to the call of discipleship?

At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. 
· What keeps us from following Jesus as a disciple?

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" 
· Is it wealth or its keeping it for ourselves that is at stake here?

The disciples were amazed at his words. So Jesus again said to them in reply, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through (the) eye of (a) needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God." 
· What does this say to you? Salvation comes not from works but from the grace and favor of God to which we respond.

Peter began to say to him, "We have given up everything and followed you." 
Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come. 
· What is God asking of you as you reflect on this passage? How will you respond in a practical way?