Monday of the Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
The most disciplined year of my life was my freshman year of college. As part of the university baseball team, our head coach demanded discipline from his players- particularly the incoming freshmen. In addition to fierce conditioning, mandatory daily practice(s), and maintaining an adequate GPA, all baseball players were required to shave every day, remove hats before ever walking inside a campus building, keep our hair trimmed very short around our ears, and (most importantly) have our shirts tucked-in at all times while on campus. Any lapse in following the outlined rules would be met with punishment in the form of extra running at practice or a reduction in playing time. Everyone knew if you were on the baseball team if you religiously kept your shirt tucked-in, your hair short, and face clean-shaven. These were our defining characteristics. Believe it or not, I learned to enjoy the discipline and it wasn’t too long before I felt odd ever having my shirt un-tucked (even while I slept!). In congruence with his discipline, our coach was known for repeating some of his favorite phrases over and over again until they were seemingly drilled into our subconscious. The one that echoes loudest in my memory are the words, “Expect the unexpected!” Rarely was there a practice when I failed to hear those words.
My mind drifted to those memories of playing baseball in college as I read today’s Gospel, particularly the words of Jesus when he says, “Be on your guard!” In today’s Gospel, Jesus stresses to his disciples the seriousness of sin and the seriousness of temptation. Jesus acknowledges that “Things that cause sin will inevitably occur.” Sin is not inevitable, but temptations are. However, I think sin has a way of sneaking up on us in the form of temptation. Temptations are cunning, crafty, often subtle, and almost always unexpected. Therefore, we must expect the unexpected. We must be prepared and on our guard, ready and waiting to avoid the occasions of sin that we may face during the course of a day. But in order to expect the unexpected, we must first be well-disciplined disciples. In this light, Jesus provides in today’s Gospel a bit of a framework for the life of disciplined discipleship- a framework that is far more challenging than simply tucking in our shirt or keeping our hair cut short. He says, “If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’ you should forgive him.” How amazing would it be if everyone knew that we were a Christian by our readiness to forgive? What discipline would this require?
Today’s first reading from the book of Wisdom further emphasizes the seriousness of sin with the words, “Because into a soul that plots evil, wisdom enters not, nor dwells she in a body under debt of sin.” Therefore, in order to expect the unexpectedness of temptations that cause sin, we need, as the first reading points out, the “Holy Spirit of discipline.” Yes, the Holy Spirit is a spirit of discipline, which “flees deceit,” “withdraws from senseless counsels,” and “rebukes injustice.” In other words, it is by the Holy Spirit of discipline that we are able to expect the unexpectedness of deceit, senseless counsels, and injustice, and react accordingly as to avoid sin. As disciples, we must be willing to conform our lives to the Holy Spirit of discipline.
My freshman year of college was in many ways my most well-disciplined year, but from a spiritual perspective I was just beginning my training as a disciple- spiritual training, which as St. Paul writes is “valuable in every respect.” (1 Tim. 4:8) That year, I was introduced to a teammate on the university baseball team who always, without exception, read the Bible before bed. I also met a girl (who I would later marry), who woke up early to pray and spend time with her Jesus- I had never seen that kind of spiritual discipline before. Spiritual discipline is a challenge and it is rarely easy. So often I find myself wanting to lapse in spiritual discipline, making excuses, and no longer expecting the unexpected temptations- and I find myself saying as apostles did in today’s Gospel, “Lord, please increase my faith.” And it is in these moments when I need to be reminded that all I need is faith the size of a mustard seed to press on.
What is a disciple without discipline? Perhaps today we can humbly evaluate our own spiritual discipline- in our prayer life, our time spent with God in the Scriptures, in the Sacraments, and in our willingness to forgive. Let us pray for the grace to conform our lives to the Holy Spirit of discipline so that we may expect the unexpected obstacles that we may face as we strive to follow Jesus. Amen.
Ryan Mahle