8 October 2013
Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
In the “old days,” we had to memorize the catechism before we were confirmed. And the first thing we learned was the purpose of our existence: we were made to “know, love, and serve God in this world and be happy with Him forever in Heaven.” Now that’s a clear “mission statement”!
But who takes the trouble to “know God”? Curiously, many believers really do want to love and serve God, and indeed that by serving their neighbor. This is wonderful. And yet, Mark’s Gospel tells us that Jesus called the apostles first of all “to be with Him” (Mk. 3:14) : that is, God wants to be known by us! God’s pace is different from ours, however, and we have to slow down a lot, and become very little – perhaps like children – if we are to know Him.
This is called “contemplation,” a big word for a tiny reality, so small it really is missed by the busy, important world. If we are to be like Mary and sit at Jesus’ feet – and come to know Him – well, we can expect to be thought rather odd by the very busy people around us, even very active Christians. They are doing good. But Jesus wants us to simply be with Him, so that our service might be His service, a service after His own heart. And we will be restlessly active until we rest in Him, who is the “joy of man’s desiring.”