Are we
wasting time on the
wrong things? LIFE OF VIRTUE
L
ater this year (on the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time, to be exact), we will hear the Gospel in which Jesus asks His disciples about their understanding of His identity. Toward the end of that Gospel
passage, Simon Peter rebuked Jesus for telling them that He had to die in order to fulfill His mission. After the Apostle’s comment, Jesus offered His own gentle rebuke: "You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."
(Mk 8:33) This
short phrase resonates in my head and heart, and I think these few words
provide a key to understanding why the world operates as it does.
DEREK ROTTY
is a husband, father, historian, theologian and director of evangelization & discipleship at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Jackson, Tenn. His first book, A Life of Conversion: Meeting Christ in the Gospels, is available from Our Sunday Visitor Press. Visit his website: derekrotty.com. PHOTO BY KAREN PULFER FOCHT
4
We are surrounded by an ocean of people who think according to the ways of humanity, rather than the ways of God. Sometimes, those people are at our jobs; sometimes, they are in our parishes; or sometimes, they are in our homes. Sometimes, we are those people! Sometimes, we're drowning in an ocean of bad philosophy, vindictive words and unholy actions. Sometimes, we are responsible for drowning others in those negative things. Usually, we have no one to blame but ourselves. That's because we're thinking as human beings do, and not as God does. Each one of us is guilty of wasting too much time and in this way. Many of us spend lots of time thinking about how to save for retirement, which presidential candidate will save our country, which tribe lost a person from the island, the best mode of revenge on a co-worker or buying products that will make our lives easier. I certainly know that I can count myself among the people who think and act this way! Yet, Jesus has made it abundantly clear: We must cease to think as fallen human beings, and begin to see with God’s eyes, hear with His ears and ponder things according to His heart. St. Thomas Aquinas tells us that the spiritual gift of wisdom means “seeing things from God’s perspective.” Saving for retirement,
FAITH West Tennessee | ANNIVERSARY ISSUE 2021 | WWW.CDOM.ORG
voting for presidential candidates, watching television, dealing with work stresses and purchasing recreational toys are not bad things. They must, however, be submitted to God's light and grace for purification. We must see them all with His eyes. In that process of illumination and purification, we will begin to see that God will allow us to suffer in some ways. Yes, He will hold out crosses for us to take up and carry. That’s the very last clause of the Gospel passage mentioned above. Some of us won't have much in our 401ks. Some won't get to watch the latest reality TV show or full weekends of football games. Others will have to deal with co-workers who are less than pleasant. Others will not have the newest gadgets available on the capitalist market. But, it is true that the people who willingly submit to God’s illumination and purification, those who have begun to think as God does (or try to do so), will bear these small crosses more joyfully. Good and lasting spiritual fruit, the best things in life, will be brought into their lives. So, let’s cease wasting too much time thinking according to the ways of the world. Rather, let’s go to our mighty and merciful God in prayer and ask Him to teach us how to think as He does. That will begin to transform the world in which we live!
