Word to the Wise
Tuesday, January 20, 2009 - Tuesday in the Second Week in Ordinary Time
[Hebrews 6:10-20 and Mark 2:23-28]God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name by having served and continuing to serve the holy ones. We earnestly desire each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of hope until the end, so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who, through faith and patience, are inheriting the promises.
One of the more common expressions one hears about folks who have "dropped out" of any effort or cause is that they got "burned-out" or are suffering "_________-fatigue." I suspect all of us have had the same experience at one time or another. We get to a point where we just don't think we can do it anymore and feel exhausted and unappreciated! It isn't confined to just one age, either, although I suspect those who have given a lifetime to a cause or effort may feel it when they get close to retirement. This feeling could spill over into our relationship to God. We begin to feel that nobody cares what we have done or contributed, not even God!!!!! The author of the Letter to the Hebrews wishes to keep the community from giving up the faith! But his words could apply to any of us who might feel unappreciated or "burned out" in our efforts to live our faith and contribute to our church. God is not unjust! Our efforts do make a difference! Whether we be bishop or pewperson the same thing may be bothering us and it can be dangerous to the future of the whole church. We don't have to be quite as dramatic in our response as Pope John Paul II was when, in the midst of his last illness he was asked why he didn't just resign and take care of himself: "Christ did not come down from the cross!" But we CAN remember that no effort to preach the kingdom goes unappreciated by the one whose kingdom we serve - God's! AMEN
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