Press On!

29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C

Persistence is a virtue we embrace in our society. We will persist in our work year after hard year, hoping to be successful. The harder we work, the more we succeed, the more we are called upon to do, and the more responsibilities we have. It really never gets any easier. Yet we do not question this lifestyle. We hold it up as a goal.

Do we see our lives of prayer differently? Are we as persistent in the things of faith as we are in our careers?  Or do we give up when we don’t think our prayers are being answered?  Why will we press on when it’s our efforts we’re relying on yet give up so easily when asked to submit to the will of God?

But how can we pray all the time? It’s not realistic. We have things to do, people to see, soccer games to attend. It’s hard to find time to pray.

Constant prayer is not talking to God all the time. Prayer is experiencing God in our lives, acknowledging God’s importance in our lives. Prayer is communication with God, and most of the time we don’t use words. Monks in monasteries will pray the liturgy of the hours many times throughout the day. Yet they consider their work to be their main form of prayer. Their lives are their prayer because they offer up everything about their lives to God. The things they produce, the way they get along with others, the small daily sufferings they endure. All are understood as being gifts they give back to God in thanksgiving for all the gifts God has given them. What a wonderful way to look at the ordinariness, joys and challenges of our own lives.

But why do we have to pray at all, when God knows what we need and want and desires to give it to us? And why doesn’t God answer our prayers the first time we ask? Why do we have to ask over and over again? Nothing is more annoying than a little child pestering his parent. Is it because God wants us to really, really want it? Does he want us to be sure ourselves when we ask? Can we change God’s mind or will for us?

Persistence in prayer does not change God. God is forever constant. Persistence in prayer changes us. If you have to pray all the time for what you want and need, you become a person of prayer. If you only pray occasionally it’s often hard to get it going again. What if you only ate once a week, only for an hour on Sunday morning, and then didn’t eat again all week? What would that do to your body? Would it increase your lessen your hunger? By Friday afternoon, what thinking would consume you? Eat. We would never dream of doing something like that with food, but you know we all do it when it comes to prayer. Persistence in prayer every day builds in us the habit of prayer, so that eventually it is part of our every fiber, just as the food we eat becomes part of us, is absorbed into us, and nourishes us.

We’ve all heard the saying of St. Francis, “To be a good preacher you must preach constantly, and when all else fails use words.” Francis recognized that we are most effective when we act rather than when we talk.

But isn’t what Francis said even more difficult than preaching out loud all the time? Doesn’t it take even more effort, even more time, to constantly make our lives examples of Christ’s love in the world? I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had someone come up to me and say, “ I really admire you and the way you live your life. It must be because you’re Catholic. I want to be Catholic, too.”

Yet just like in the workplace, when more is given to a person, more will be required. It doesn’t get any easier. You can’t retire from your faith. The more it grows within you, the more you live it out, the more you will be called upon to do. Paul didn’t say to Timothy, “Oh well, your kids are grown, so you don’t have to be a catechist anymore,” or “You’ve put in your time. Let someone else take over for awhile.” He told him to be persistent and consistent, even when it’s inconvenient.

We can’t use those excuses in our careers, why should your life of faith be any different? If we are truly to live the Kingdom of God, then our faith is not something we just think about on Sundays or when we sit down at the dinner table. Our awareness of the presence of God must be foremost in our thoughts and in our actions. You can’t turn God on and off like a switch. He doesn’t think of us only when it’s convenient for him. We are constantly in his thoughts. He is constantly calling to us, wanting us to know that he loves us.

This is hard to hear. Are our lives to be nothing but serving others? Well, of course. That is the crux of Jesus’ call to us as disciples. When you signed on for this life of faith, you knew it wasn’t a part-time job. You knew it wouldn’t be easy. When you were baptized, you were baptized into Jesus’ death. “To be my disciple”, he said, you must pick up your cross daily, and follow me.” Daily.

Giving more and more of ourselves is hard work, and we usually rely on our leaders to do the heavy lifting, after all, it’s their full-time job. Sometimes, like Moses in today’s first reading, they grow weary. Sometimes they can’t do it all by themselves. When that happens, we are there to hold up their hands. We are there to support them in prayer, and by giving of our time and our talents. Being a disciple is a full-time job for all of us.

A few years ago someone coined the term “compartmentalization”, a concept where public figures argue that they can separate their private lives and actions from their public responsibilities. What they do in private shouldn’t be used to judge their public record.  This gives some people a nice excuse to do all sorts of unseemly things. But, as we know, we must be consistent in living our faith all the time, not just on Sundays, because what we do in private can affect the entire community of God, for good or for evil.

Paul tells Timothy, one of his first bishops, that he is charged with teaching people about Jesus. He must use scripture to do so, and he must not just live a good life. He must talk about it. He is called to convince people, to correct them, to reprimand them. He must know his stuff and use it in persuasive arguments to challenge people’s thinking. I think we’re uncomfortable being this up front with our beliefs. Yet, we have political debates all the time. Why do we think we have to persuade others to our point of view politically but not in matters of faith? Are our political convictions stronger than our religious convictions?

Whew! This seems really hard. We have to pray constantly, live our lives as examples of God’s love for the world, and be vocal witnesses to other people. Why do it? Well, why do we work so hard for our careers? Because it’s worth it. We work hard because we know the rewards will be greater still. Because Jesus did it. That’s the story of his life. He pressed-on to the bitter end because he knew how glorious the ending would be.

When the Son of Man returns, will he find any faith on the earth? I don’t know, but I’m going to try.