On Renewing Ourselves

From "In the Spirit of Transparency" (3 parts_
August 7, 1998

After years of active community building and mission work, some of us understandably feel tired, “battle-weary” or “burned-out”. We are experiencing the price of discipleship: the sacrifice of time and self to fulfill our mission as Christian disciples.

The essence of discipleship is selfless love and its perfect model is Jesus Christ. At the outset, Jesus disclosed the cost of discipleship: "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mt 16:24). The cost is dying to self. We are called to self-denial, which means detaching ourselves from everything that would keep us from God, and to burden-bearing, which means partaking in Christ’s suffering in order to help build up His Church. Only then can we follow Christ to the victory of the cross and the glory of Easter.

In their missionary zeal, disciples should not the neglect their responsibilities to their health, family, job and parish. In fact, our primary ministry is to our family, for God gave them to us to build into a “communion of love and life, a community of persons. Part of our family ministry is to guide them to become what John Paul II calls in Familiaris Consortio as “a believing and evangelizing community.” The family should reach out to other families so that they too might become believing and evangelizing communities.

As a macrocosm of the family, our community is called to disciple its members. As it fulfills this role, our community must become better stewards of its time, talents and treasures. Besides our weekly Friday night worship, the community has mission work, teachings, encounters, seminars, retreats, reunions and meetings that are variously scheduled on weekends, and sometimes on weeknights. Several times a year, we are requested to serve in Archdiocesan events, outreach events and special projects.

While our community has grown in numbers, so too has the magnitude of our work. And with growth came growth pains. Our lack of punctuality and good calendar management did not help either. Understaffed in many of our ministries and mission projects, we increasingly relied on the services of adult and singles volunteers. Until the initiation of the Mission Immersion Program, only a handful of members participated in mission work. We became activity-oriented like Martha, and did not find time to sit by the feet of the Lord like Mary. Without the rest and nourishment that prayer and contemplation provided, some of us drew from our human strength and ran out of gas.

Some members suggested slowing down or cutting back on the work we do for the Lord. We believe, however, that the answer is in prioritization and better community calendar & time management. Early this year, the Lord directed us to the following community priorities: (1) deepening our communion with our Triune God; (2) caring for our members; (3) supporting our current outreaches; (4) improving our operational effectiveness; and (5) providing for our temporal needs. We believe that all of these priorities should address the community problem discussed in this column.

“Peter began to say to Him, "We have given up everything and followed You" Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come." Mark 10:28-30

RENEWING OURSELVES IN JESUS

Tired, battle-weary or burned-out, some members suggested slowing down or cutting back on the work we do for the Lord. We suggest, however, that rest & replenishment- not retreat or retrenchment- is the answer. Individually and as community, we must become aware and show concern for our personal and family needs. We must learn to schedule inviolate time to take care of our personal needs, to do what is necessary to renew ourselves.

We will find renewal only in Christ. The Lord invites all: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves” (Matthew 11:28-29). To Jesus, rest & replenishment- both physical and spiritual- are a must for His disciples. In Mark 6:31, He encouraged His apostles who had just returned from their mission to physically rest: “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." In Matthew 14:32, Jesus showed us that communing with God in prayer avails both physical and spiritual rest and replenishment: (After feeding the five thousand) Jesus “went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.”

We will find wholeness of being in the study of God’s Word: “My son, to my words be attentive, to my sayings incline your ear…For they are life to those who find them, to man's whole being they are health.”(Proverbs 4:20,22). And only in the Eucharist will we find spiritual nourishment that will never end: "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” (John 6:35).

With these assurances from God’s Word, we should have nothing to fear, nor should we slow down or cut back on our work for the Lord. Rather, God’s Word encourages us to perseverance: “... let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us, while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of our faith…Consider how He endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:1-3).

The key is to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, to abide in Him always. For without the Lord, we are “like a land parched, lifeless and without water” (Psalm 63:2). But with Him, we are “like a tree planted near streams of water, that yields its fruit in season. Its leaves never wither; whatever they do prospers”(Psalm 1:3). The tired in Christ will be renewed in Christ, as surely as those who die with Him will share in His resurrection.

Recognizing that we must allow ourselves the rest and replenishment we need to persevere in our community-building and mission work, let's prioritize our community goals. Prioritizing enables us to focus our efforts on those activities that significantly affect our community vision and mission, and to postpone lower priority activities when we realize that our plate is full.

We acknowledge the immensity of the work that we have been entrusted to do, but we are reassured that our strength comes from the strength of the Lord. With His grace and your support, we will achieve a better balance between the personal and communitarian facets of our life, so that the Lord may be glorified in everything we do.

“Peter began to say to Him, "We have given up everything and followed You" Jesus said, "Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come." Mark 10:28-30