Reflection for 10/10/17

Yesterday, we heard the beginning of the story of Jonah and the large fish, where Jonah was called by God to go to the people of Nineveh in order to preach repentance.  Jonah, however, did not wish to go and therefore he ran from God by boarding a boat and sailing in the opposite direction.  But eventually, God got his way, as he always does, and Jonah returned to preach to the Ninevites.  And we are told, Jonah had not even gone a full day’s journey through Nineveh (he didn’t even go a third of the way through the town) and the people repented and believed in God; and thus, God’s wrath was diverted.

 

When the Lord calls us to a particular task and we choose to ignore the call of the Lord, a tempest always rages.  It may not be an actual storm, but a storm in our hearts.  When God is calling us to do something or to live out a particular vocation in life and we choose to ignore that call, we will forever be anxious and divided interiorly.  Until we give ourselves over to the will of God and throw ourselves into the storm within, into the restlessness of our hearts, then we will always be unsettled.  For this reason, I can’t help but think that many people develop addictions and begin to abuse drugs and alcohol and people because they are usually running away from something in their lives.  Perhaps we don’t turn to alcohol or drugs, but perhaps we turn to busyness in order to run from the Lord’s call.  We can ignore the restlessness of our hearts by creating work for us to do, by playing on social media all day long, by watching television or listening to music at any free moment we can, and we do these things because we don’t like to sit in silence and confront the restlessness of our hearts.WHY?—because God might be asking something of us that we don’t want to do, so we refuse to hear God out.  

 

In today’s Gospel, however, Jesus teaches us what is necessary for eternal life, what is necessary for peace and blessedness, and that is sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to his word.  Martha was not wrong in her busyness, but perhaps she was running away from just BEING with the Lord.  Maybe she was afraid of what the Lord might say to her or ask her to do, so she served and cleaned and did everything she could think of to fill her time.  On the other hand, Mary simply sat at the feet of Christ and listened to him.  She gave herself over to him in a very loving and adoring way.  This trust in God is what we are all called to in our lives.  Certainly, things need to get done—this is not a bad thing—but we must carve out time to simply BE with the Lord, as well.  We need to be a Martha AND a Mary in our lives.

 

Don’t run away from the restlessness of your hearts.  Enter into that restlessness and bring it to the Lord.  Listen to God by quieting down and sitting in silence for some time each day, and I guarantee that the Lord will speak to you in the recesses of your heart.