Friday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
This school year has brought major changes to our house: our oldest kid is attending a new school, with an earlier start time, and my husband is now driving to Cincinnati several days a week to take classes, so isn't always here to do some of the things he's done a lot in the past, like picking up the kids from school or bedtime routines. The upshot of this for me is: life's a little crraaaaazy! I'm still at my regular full-time job, but also in charge of a lot of new things.
Sometimes I feel like I'm treading water because I keep running around trying to do a little bit here, a little bit there, working on each thing I have to do a little bit at a time. I feel crazy because I'm constantly standing up to do something and then sitting down to do something else.
Every now and then I remind myself that the flitting around doesn't really help, no matter how much I've got going. It is far better to aim for calm, or at least focus, in the busiest of days.
At least, that is what I think today’s gospel (Luke 5:33-39) suggests about how to think about the days and tasks that face us. Jesus once again faces down the scribes and Pharisees. This time, they’re concerned about the fact that his disciples never seem to be fasting, while they do fast. It is clear that the Pharisees think that their fasting puts them in far better light than Jesus’ disciples’ apparent spiritual laziness.
Jesus’ answer seems to be: you can’t do two things at once. You can’t fast and mourn if you’re supposed to be having a party. Jesus’ very presence in the world is a big party and feast and requires a different kind of focus on life than what we often do.
Paul urges us to stay focused on the mysteries of God in the first reading (1 Corinthians 4:1-5). Paul was not a guy who had his head in the clouds - he was a tentmaker, a guy who acknowleged real problems in the communities he visited, a guy who faced all kinds of calamities in his missionary journeys. He reminds me not to "pass judgement" not even on myself, but instead to hold fast to Jesus and to the mystery of God that will be revealed some day.
These passages suggest that we focus singularly on what we have been given in this moment. Live this moment with the actions that this particular moment needs – whether that is fasting or feasting, new or old. Live this moment intensity that this God-given moment deserves. So what am I doing in the midst of my busy-ness? Definitely I've got my Bible and book of prayer cracked open.
Today, let us pray for calm and focus in the midst of busy lives.
- Jana M. Bennett