Human Beings vs Human Doings

"Martha had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord's feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha, who was distracted with all the serving, came to him and said, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.' But the Lord answered, 'Martha, Martha,' he said, 'you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part, and it is not to be taken from her.'" -Luke 10:38-42

How often have we found ourselves so caught up in our studies, work and ministry efforts that we forget that God made us Human Beings and not Human Doings. He made us to be in His presence, to know Him, to love Him with all our hearts, souls, minds and strengths! As much as the Lord calls me to bring Him to others and others to Him, He requires me to draw even closer to Him every single day than I was the day before. There are many good grounds to follow this through and steps to examine whether we have been following them through all this while.

Firstly, St. Paul says in 1 Cor 9:27, ' I punish my body and bring it under control, to avoid any risk that, having acted as herald for others, I myself may be disqualified. ' We cannot afford to give in to the temptation that we have attained holiness whatsoever. Conversion is an ongoing process an we are all merely wounded ministers that the Lord is using. A daily examination of conscience is vital and accountability partners are essential to point out our blind spots. A growing prayer life is necessary. After all prayer is our relationship with God. It is so important to stay on track. One slight slack can lead to countless others and by time we know it, we are in a deep pit. We can never have enough of the mercy of God, we must always run to Him in our imperfections and weakness for all haven fallen short of the Glory of God. The Sacrament of Reconciliation awaits us with open arms.

Secondly, we must always first and foremost be in His presence before we go on to carry out works in His name. Our service flows from prayer. The highest form of prayer is indeed the Holy Mass and the Holy Mass is the Source and Summit of Christian life. We get all the graces, gifts, strengths and anointing necessary in and through any form of prayer and even more through the Holy Mass - that's the source. Subsequently, the development and usage of such gifts and charisms are given back to God in glory, honor and thanksgiving at the Holy Mass - that's the summit. If this isn't the attitude, to run to Him for grace, we can fall into the temptation of relying on our own resources and ability in our daily lives. Similarly, if we don't run to Him to give back to Him what is due to Him, we can fall into the sin of pride, attaining glory to ourselves.

Thirdly, how can we pour the love of God into the lives of others if we ourselves are running dry? We cannot pour wine into others cups if our jugs are empty. We have to know that God pours His love into the hearts of others 'in and through us' and not just 'through us'. We must always experience afresh and anew the Love of God. God wants us to be excited to know Him more every moment and with that, go on to share Him. There are risks that we can fall into the prejudice of familiarity once we listen to the same scripture over and over again if we do not heed to the Living Spirit acting in and through His Word and Sacraments. How to do this? Ask for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Baptism of Water is a one off thing but the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is for constant in-fillings of the Holy Spirit. We have to be set on fire with His Love. The Holy Spirit is generated from the perfect love and union between God the Father and Son. God the Father begets, the Son is begotten and the Spirit is the 'conception' that springs forth from that love.

Constantly turning to the Spirit, Scriptures and Sacraments are all important but there is another important factor to ensure that we always be in His presence first and foremost before we go on out there to do His will and that is to belong to a community of faith. As I mentioned earlier, an accountability partner is important. On top of that, a community is also vital to oversee our growth and to constantly help us rise above our comfort zones. A community that is Spirit-filled and constantly growing can become an avenue/fire-place for God to actively break into our hearts and fill us anew and afresh with His Love. It is also good to fall in love with personal prayer time in and through adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Just Jesus and you. In the quiet, in the stillness and in the peace amidst the much noise around us. Lastly, if we truly want to be with Jesus faithfully till the end, we can only do so with the guidance of His Mother Mary.

At the end of the day are we Human Beings or Human Doings? There is no point getting too caught up and eventually sinking in our own busy schedules. The Lord asks us to examine where we truly are now and to journey to where we should be. To an extent, all of us are guilty of getting to caught up, losing the focus and missing the entire point but our Lord is merciful and loving, callings us to Himself even as we are. The more deeply we love Him and the more childlike-ly we run to Him, the more effectively we find ourselves heeding the plea of our Mama Mary to 'Do whatever He tells you.' - John 2:5