THOSE WHO FOLLOW
It is God's Will we must seek,
not our own; His plan is what we must strive to follow, not our own.
Are we spiritually dull and
slow to hear God's voice? The prophets remind us that God's Kingdom is open to
those who are teachable and receptive to His Word. Jesus' parable about
disappointed playmates challenges us to examine whether or not we are selective
in hearing only what we want to hear. The children in Jesus' parable react with
dismay because they cannot get anyone to join in their musical medley. They
complain that if they play their music at weddings, no one will dance or sing;
and if they play at funerals, it is the same.
This refrain echoes the words
from the Book of Ecclesiastes: "there is a time to weep and a time to
laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance" (Eccl 3:4). Are we truly in
tune with the message of the Kingdom of God? Jesus' message of the Kingdom is
Good News, producing true joy and spiritual freedom for those who will listen!
But it is also a warning for those who refuse to listen. Why did the message of
John the Baptist and the message of Jesus meet with deaf ears and with stiff
resistance?
The scribes and Pharisees
succeeded in frustrating God's plan for their lives because they had closed
their hearts to the message of John the Baptist and now to Jesus' message also.
Abraham Lincoln said, "You can fool all the people some of the time, and
some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the
time." He could just as easily have said that you cannot please all of the
people any of the time. John the Baptist led an austere life and preached repentance,
so some people dismissed him as a fanatic. Jesus lived in a normal fashion and
proclaimed God's merciful love for everyone, and they accused him of being lax.
Much of the same sort of
thing is going on today. Some say that the Church, since Vatican Council II,
has moved too fast, while others will say It has moved too slow. Some maintain
that the Church has abandoned Her role as a moral guide; others, that the
Church is still bogged down in legalism. Some want to return to the past and
others feel that we haven't yet moved into the present. Some will even wonder:
Why should I have to go to church every Sunday and on holy days of obligation?
How true it is that you cannot please all of the people any of the time!
There is no simple solution
to this problem. Our concern about the Church is not enough. The Bible says
that God created us in His own image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:27), and He did
the same with His Church. We are in grave error if we attempt to reverse the
process. It is God's Will we must seek, not our own; His plan is what we must
strive to follow, not our own.
We need to be humble and
allow God's Spirit to work in us and in His Church. What can make us
spiritually dull and slow to hear God's voice? Our answer is in John's Gospel
and in today's Responsorial Psalm: "Those who follow You, Lord, will have
the light of life" (Jn 8:12). "Like a tree planted near running
water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers" (Ps 1:3). We need security in an insecure
world! Lord, Your will, Your love and Your presence are our security!