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A WORD FROM THE PASTOR
Planning Balance Into Our Lives
Michael Faraday was a 19th century British physicist and chemist, best known for his discoveries of electromagnetic induction (the principle behind the electric transformer and generator) and of the laws of electrolysis. His biggest breakthrough in electricity was his invention of the electric motor. This great scientist once addressed a convocation of scientists. For an hour he held the audience spellbound with his lecture on electromagnetic induction, electrolysis, the electric motor and their future applications.
After he had finished, he received a thundering ovation. The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, stood to congratulate him. The applause thundered again. Just as quickly, a deadened silence pervaded the audience. Faraday had left. It was the hour of a mid-week prayer service in a little church of which he was a member. Do we have a similar commitment? Like Faraday, have we pledged our allegiances to a Power that outlasts the short-lived name and fame of this world?
One of the reasons we gather for worship each week is for the refreshment of our spirits, the recharging of our spiritual batteries. We need to shut the world out and focus our attention on God's presence in our lives. Today's Gospel tells us how Jesus takes the worn-out apostles to a lonely place to minister to them and gives them rest and refreshment. Jesus knew the value of getting away to a quiet place. Our Catholic families need one thing which is very essential - a revival of piety, the piety of our past generation.
In our world, it seems we get one crisis resolved and here comes another. If it is not a child in trouble at school, it's an aging parent needing our attention. If it is not an unhappy client, it is an expensive car repair - one stressful thing after another. There is no rest for the weary, we say. And that is so, UNLESS we plan balance into our lives.
The Christian life is a continuous passage from the presence of God to the presence of people and back to God again. Prayer is essentially listening to God and talking to him. One of our main problems is that we do not truly allow God the opportunity to speak to us. We also do not know how to be still and listen. Hence, we are often in danger of refusing to allow God to recharge us with spiritual energy and strength. In addition, we do not set aside enough time for God to speak to us and for us to speak to him.
How can we shoulder life's burdens if we have no contact with the Lord of life? How can we do God's work unless we rely on God's strength? And how can we receive that strength unless we pray to him individually, in the family, and as a parish community in the Church, and receive his grace by participating in the Holy Mass and through the reception of the Sacraments?
However, we must never seek God's fellowship in order to avoid the fellowship of men but always in order to prepare for it. Let us remind ourselves that the Christian life consists of meeting with God in the secret place so that we may serve people more effectively in the market place.
In the Service of the Lord,
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