The Question
of Meaning
The readings this Sunday
invite us to examine our life in terms of the big questions, such as: what
matters most to us? What do our choices reflect? What drives our life?
For some young people, the
way they answer the question of meaning provides a direction for their life and
the commitments they make, and for others, who may have been blessed with
having lived a long life, the question of meaning may come toward the end, as
they try to frame the choices they made into a meaningful narrative.
I spoke the other day with
a contractor who volunteered to give me some advice for fixing a problem in the
basement of the church. Yet we spoke more about life than about the basement.
He shared how he lived with many years with resentment in his heart. When he
was much younger, another man had tried to rob his father of his life. Although
he restrained his impulse for vengeance thanks to both of his parents who
insisted that vengeance would only lead to his ruin, he could not shake off his
resentment for years.
He knew in his mind that
Christ spoke about forgiveness, but he wanted a sign that indeed Christ was
calling him to forgive that man.
One day, he experienced a
religious experience, which gave him the peace he was looking for; he received
the assurance beyond a doubt that indeed forgiveness was the way forward. Now
he finds himself doing something for the church, because despite its flaws, he
sees the church as a messenger of God. He can see both its weakness and God’s
work despite it.
We have an inborn desire
to be happy, but so often we deceive ourselves and become driven by something
like vengeance... or like Jesus says in the Gospel: greed. The good news is
that if we’re humble about our limitations and steadfast in our search, God
will find us and break down our illusions to then satisfy us with more than we
could have dreamed.
God bless, Fr. Carlos, OSA
No comments:
Post a Comment