All of us have had days in which it seemed like everything we tried to accomplish was in the end, useless, fruitless or simply for naught. Maybe it was while in school and you pulled an “all nighter” studying for a test, only to have the test cancelled the next morning. Or, one we all can probably relate to, getting up at 3 a.m. to make an early morning flight, only to see the word “CANCELLED” prominently displayed on the departure board at the airport.
And how did that make us feel? Most likely mad and frustrated that we had invested so much of our time and energy in an event that did not happen. If only we had known beforehand, we could have directed our most precious resource, our time, to something else.
Well, Paul might be delivering the same message in today’s First Reading when he says, “Of the Gospel I preached to you, which you indeed received and in which you also stand. Through it you are also being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.”
Was Paul’s use of the phrase “and in which you also stand” a metaphor for “action?” Was Paul subtly telling us that if we don’t want to “believe in vain” we must actively live out our faith and beliefs, not just by memorizing the Prayer to Saint Michael or the Hail Holy Queen, but by also demonstrating our faith in how we live our lives? How we interact with those around us? The compassion we feel and show for those who are less fortunate than us, and even those more fortunate than us?
So, as Fr. Andy Alexander likes to say, “As we go about our hectic, all too busy lives,” let’s make sure we use our most precious resource, our time, in not just holding fast to the words we hear in church, but in actually living our faith in thought, word and deed.
Today, when we spend time in prayer and meditation and do our daily Examen of Conscience, let’s focus on feeling God’s loving embrace in all of our activities, from the mundane to the important, and be aware that God is directing us in every step we take. And, most importantly, let each of us live out our faith by sharing God’s love with those we meet by showing justice, compassion, forgiveness and a big dose of humility.
Steve Scholer
I came to Creighton to attend law school in 1976 and following 5 years of private practice I started what I thought would be a 4 year job to help Fr. James Hoff, S.J. raise funds for the Campaign for Creighton. Little did I know that the many wonderful people I would soon meet, both here on campus and across the entire country, over the next few years would lead me to stay and continue to support the mission of this University. My wife is a Creighton graduate and our son, Frank, is a Xavier undergraduate and Creighton law graduate. Our daughter, Paige, has both her undergraduate and master’s degree from Creighton.
I do not participate in social media websites so posting my personal interpretation about what the readings mean to me is a novel experience for me. However, being required to put pen to paper forced me to become more reflective about what God is really trying to say to me and this has helped me in my daily prayer life - to slow down and let the Word of God dwell within me instead of racing through the daily devotions.
