Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Years ago, the incoming freshman class would participate in teambuilding exercises on a high-ropes course near the monastery. Since I was the young, sporty monk at the time, I was given the chance to join them for these exercises. I realized quickly that you can learn a lot about a person’s personality when they are suspended fifty feet off the ground with only a harness and rope!
Some seminarians were afraid to climb and step out on the wire, some took it very slowly, and others, depending upon how you look at it, were very courageous, or outright crazy. Experiences like a high-ropes course forces us to do one thing that we are not always eager to do, especially when it comes to our faith life: Make a commitment and embrace it.
We like the stability of solid ground, we like a safety net for life, we don’t like uncertainty, we want to cling closely to a backup plan, living with one-hand on the escape hatch, ready to bail if circumstances turn out to be more difficult than we had expected. We often approach commitments secretly thinking to ourselves—I’ll try, so long as I can escape and flee to safety if it’s too much.
But, in the midst of those thoughts, Jesus is telling us to love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, and mind…Not half-hearted, not reluctantly, but totally and completely! He wants us to give God our whole self, our whole being, to give ourselves to Him entirely—not holding back.
The Gospel is a call to be bold and daring, to make an act of faith that says: “God, I believe and trust completely in your plan for my good and my salvation.” A boldness like that urges us not to be afraid, not be afraid to be generous with our lives. We cannot predict what the future will hold, but we can decide right now to commit ourselves to a greater love of God and neighbor.
Reflection by Fr. Paul Sheller, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections