Balance

Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Readings for Friday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time

Reading 1 Gal 3:7-14

Responsorial Psalm Ps 111:1b-2, 3-4, 5-6
R. The Lord will remember his covenant for ever.

Gospel Lk 11:15-26

Reflection:

The unity theme continues and strengthens today. We look at it on two different levels, at least in the Gospel. We look at the Lord saying; “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house.” In real time he is trying to bring the people he is helping to understand that he could not cast out evil spirits as an agent of Satan because doing so would destroy what he (Satan) was trying to do. This was necessary because there were those in the crowd who were clearly trying to undermine him and create hostility for him.

When this message passes through the ages to us, however, it contains two distinct messages. First, at the macro level, the Christian Community as a whole must keep fast to the teachings of Jesus. Those that do not are separated, divided, and will not stand for long. There is too much resistance in the world. We can bring that down to our local faith community and the same rule holds true. We must avoid the divisive influences often caused by self interest and taking our eyes off of what is truly important, one people in Christ.

Finally we bring the message down to our own individual character. It is difficult enough to balance our work or school and our family lives. When we add in our call to serve others, It is a balancing act that often requires feats of skill a circus juggler would envy. Picture, if you will, a tripod with yourself standing on top. The legs of the tripod are set in a foundation that is our faith. While the foundation remains strong, the legs of our tripod are stable and we can do all the things we need to in life.

There is one thing missing from this picture, isn’t there. Picture now little creatures (I think of them like tiny devils) pulling and tugging at the legs of the tripod. They don’t give up and sometimes go into frenzies of activity. Sometimes they are able to loosen one of the legs and standing up there at the top we begin to loose our balance. So sneaky are these little devils that sometimes we don’t even feel our loss of balance until we are actually falling (failing).

In the image we painted above, one leg of the tripod represents our work (or school). We must not take our eye off the ball there. That leg feeds us and allows us to do the other things in our life that are so necessary. But there is a devil pulling on that leg. The devil is sometimes a distraction to some leisure activity, it could be the internet, it could be one of the other legs of the tripod. What we must do is see that that leg remains healthy and receives all the attention it needs to stay so.

The second leg of our tripod represents family (If one does not have an immediate family it can be social relationships – one should also consider a religious vocation.) Time and energy must be spent to keep that leg strong as well. After all the work leg is only there out of necessity – the family leg is there out of love. The devils pulling on this leg can be the other two legs, work and ministry (or individual interests or activities if ministry to others is not something you do on a regular basis (work on that)). Time away from family is necessary but too much time and things will start to slip and when the family is out of balance, life is really not fun. The obvious other devils include the temptation to form other relationships; engage in other non-family activities; or even solitude in the presence of family. (There is a current movie out there called “Click” that is instructive. While I am not a huge Adam Sandler fan, there is a real message in the film.)

The final leg of the tripod is ministry or, as I said above, individual interests. This leg is important too. It is the leg were we can individually express our faith through works. If we have a vibrant ministry it can really detract from family and work, weakening those to all important legs. The unique relationship of this leg with the others is that it also feeds and strengthens the foundation into which all are set. It cannot be long ignored or the whole tripod, us included end up in a heap.

We are running long today so let us today examine our own life balance and pledge to make the adjustments to insure that all legs of the tripod are balanced.

Pax