Have you ever examined yourself? Have you ever taken some serious time in prayer and gone over how you are deep down inside? If we are to follow the CALL, then we need to know about our spiritual well being. When we call ourselves Catholic, do we truly attempt to BE Catholic? In today's readings we are reminded of the importance of remaining pure.
In Romans 1:16 St. Paul proclaims that he is not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the "power of God" for all who believe in salvation. We often hear of our brothers and sisters being persecuted in the early Church, but they are also dying for Christ today. The self awareness check, here, is to determine our level of commitment. Are we ashamed of the Gospel? Do we hide it from others to avoid awkward moments? Do we down play our commitment around others to avoid being uncool? These are hard questions. It is hard to swim against the current of our society. Keep swimming!
There is another thing we have to be self aware of. Instead of being ashamed of the Gospel, we could be faking our commitment to it! Our Lord admonishes the Pharisees saying, "Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil," (Luke 11:39). When doing the dishes do we just wash the outside of the cup or the back of the plate? Of course not! We make sure to clean them completely. What is your spiritual life like? Are you clean on the outside by simply going to Mass just to go? Or simply doing the Sign of the Cross swiftly to look right? Brothers and sisters seek cleanliness from Our Lord!
It is important to examine ourselves, because what is on the inside will eventually have an effect on what is on the outside. The saying, "you are what you eat", applies to our spiritual lives as well. Let's challenge ourselves to spend a few minutes each day becoming more self aware. We are CALLED to produce good fruit and to do so we must be a good tree. To be a good tree we need to feed ourselves properly.
Pax
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Readings for 17 OCT 2017
Deus invictus! Credo Domine!
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