Saturday of the Third Week of Easter
Often when I am visiting with people and encouraging them in their prayer life, they will respond: “Yes, I know…but it’s hard.” I can’t disagree—the spiritual life is hard. Maintaining a consistent prayer life is very hard. There is a subsection in the Catechism of the Catholic Church entitled, “The Battle of Prayer,” which gives a clear indication of this universal struggle and how prayer is both “a gift of grace and a determined response on our part” (2725). During our time in prayer, we battle against the snares of the evil one who desires to dissuade us from prayer and away from union with God. We have to battle such things as lack of motivation, dryness, distractions, and the creeping thoughts that our time in prayer is unproductive or useless.
Jesus’ teachings were also hard and challenging for many people. In the Gospel’s teaching on the Eucharist, many of Jesus’ disciples said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” and as a result, “many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer walked with him.”
Giving an assent of faith and making a choice is hard. Sometimes we would rather remain uncommitted. But, we also experience how indecision is paralyzing. Christ is always urging us to follow, to believe, to accept—but this call can be met with our refusing to choose. The question is essentially: Do you want to give yourself over entirely to Christ or not? True maturity in Christ is taking responsibility for our actions and freely choosing the good ourselves. The daunting reality is that we have to be the ones to answer the question. If we say “yes,” then it challenges us to take a serious and prayerful look at what needs to change in our lives. At the most fundamental level, following Christ is a decision we make in our hearts, where we are willing to entrust our lives to Jesus’ authority and allow Him to reign over us. When we wake up tomorrow, we have to affirm that choice again.
Reflection: Whom will I serve today? Can I accept that God desires what is best for the sake of my salvation?
Posted in Daily Reflections, Lenten Resources