Catholic Culture This Week: Be Diligent, Not Superman

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It seems that there is never enough time to accomplish all that I would like.  Because I am not God, and thus cannot create additional time in each day, I must continually rely on a simple axiom in order to remain productive and sane.  I make sure that I put "first things first;" that I "keep the most important things the most important things."  Prioritization often means that I don't get to do the things I'd "like" to do (such as write brilliant essays), but that I do accomplish the necessary tasks (like family dinner, household chores, paper-grading, and "Go, Diego, Go").

In recent weeks, I have been blessed to begin cultivating a true Marian devotion, specifically through recitation of the Holy Rosary.  During that time, I have been granted unusual clarity regarding the ways that certain mysteries of the Rosary are applicable to my life.  One such nugget of wisdom has come through several meditations on the Fifth Joyful Mystery, the Finding of Our Lord in the Temple."

The Gospel of Luke (chapter 1, verses 41 through 49) recount the moment when Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the Temple after they had "lost" him for three days.  Jesus' reply (verse 49) happens to contain a message that many modern Christians need to hear: "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"

To be in someone's house also means to be about that person's business, to be attuned to that person.  So, the Holy Spirit, through lengthy periods of meditation, led me to a greater understanding of what it means to be about the business of the Almighty.  One word shall suffice as the answer: diligence.

The Lord is asking me to be diligent, not Super Man.  The Lord is asking me to be faithful to the things that He has asked of me, nothing more.  The Lord is helping me to recognize which actions, habits, and tasks are necessary and which are superfluous or recreational.  He who is Wisdom has revealed to me that prayer, worship, family togetherness, and the tasks of employment are necessary; that writing, certain books and other entertainment, and even exercise must take places lower on the priority totem pole.

My request, then, is that you pray for me as I attempt to prioritize and remain diligent for the Lord and for my family.  I pray also that you take such a message to heart and begin to practice it in your own lives.  Finally, I pray that such personal transformation will bear fruit in the culture at large, in other members of our communities.  Without a doubt, changes can be wrought in our time, but it must be internal change first; there must be a trend toward reordering our lives toward the Ultimate Good.

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