Day 40
Avoiding the Rush
This passion will not fail to stir in the Church a new sense of mission, which cannot be left to a group of “specialists” but must involve the responsibility of all the members of the People of God. Those who have come into genuine contact with Christ cannot keep him for themselves, they must proclaim him.
— St. John Paul II, Novo Millennio Ineunte
Our Lord’s favorite images for his kingdom always had to do with plants. The sower who went out to sow, the mustard seed, the grain of wheat, the farmer’s field . . . his kingdom is like that. It grows organically, taking time to put down roots and put up shoots, going through different seasons as its fruit matures. And just as farmers cannot rush their crops but have to respect the natural rhythms of growth, so too Christian apostles need patience and perseverance as they respect the seasons of evangelical growth.
Sharing in the Labor
Sometimes, in fact, we may never see the harvest of the seeds we planted — at least, not this side of heaven. Sometimes we are called to plant, other times to water, and still other times to bring in the harvest (see John 4:37–38). St. Paul picks up on this same image in order to remind the Christians in Corinth that the spiritual fruitfulness they have experienced through believing in the gospel is not the result of merely human activity, and so the men who preached the gospel (in this case Apollos and Paul himself) deserve only relative credit (see 1 Corinthians 3:5–9).
Seasons of Salvation
Perhaps patience and perseverance are harder for us than they were for Christians in past ages. The pace of life in the digital world is so accelerated and the rate of technological progress so dizzying that we expect quick results, quick fixes, quick progress, and quick resolution. We are products and citizens of an on-demand culture, but spiritual and apostolic growth are not on-demand items — they are seasonal.
Throughout the history of salvation, every major event had its seasons. Moses didn’t even begin his mission to free Israel from Egyptian slavery until he was an old man. David had to wait nineteen years — enduring persecution for most of them — between his anointing as the new king of Israel and his actual crowning. Even Jesus, as we have seen, spent thirty years in obscurity before launching out on his public mission, and then he prefaced his first sermon with a forty-day retreat in the desert wilderness. The nascent Church had to wait for seven weeks after the Resurrection before receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Church is “God’s field,” and the fruits of her evangelizing effort take time to mature.
You Cannot Rush the Effects of Grace
Our apostolic activities deserve our best efforts and our smartest strategies, but unlike mere worldly work, their fruits are not completely in our control. To evangelize is to work with God and for God and allow him to arrange the calendar. The effects of grace go beyond our merely human efforts, and we need to learn to be okay with that.
Evangelization seeks to establish and nurture a living relationship between God and every person, and relationships always take time to develop. This apostolate poses many practical challenges, which we should meet with all the creativity and energy we would apply to any practical challenge. But the central challenge is actually deeper; it involves healing broken hearts and sickened souls, and those things cannot be rushed.
Yearning of Love versus Worldly Rush
Jesus felt the urgent yearning of love; it burned in his heart like a fire: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” (Luke 12:49). But when he commissioned his followers to make disciples of all nations, he let them know how long it would take to finish: “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). The evangelizing mission of the Church will continue until the end of history. Let’s work hard, planting and watering and weeding however the Lord asks us to, but let’s do so calmly and wisely, trusting first and foremost in him and his love, not in our human smarts and strengths. Let’s avoid the worldly rush and make room for the flow of grace.
Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion
What idea in this reflection struck you most and why?
When do you tend to get impatient and why? How do you usually respond to that? How would you like to respond?
When have you been surprised by how God’s grace works? Remember, savor, and speak to God about that experience. What do you think he wants you to learn from it?
We are responsible for our input into the work of evangelization God invites us to undertake. But God is responsible for the output.
What will you do today to cultivate a humble sense of detachment from visible results and a joyful trust in the fruitfulness of every effort offered to God with love?
- When things don’t go my way, I will say a prayer of trust in God.
- When things go my way and I experience a success, no matter how small, I will enjoy the feeling and thank God for it.
- After I do my part, I will say a small prayer commending my efforts to God’s care and releasing any self-centered or fear-based expectations I may have regarding the results.
- (Write your own resolution) I will
Concluding Prayer
Lord, my heart is not haughty,
I do not set my sights too high.
I have taken no part in great affairs,
in wonders beyond my scope.
No, I hold myself in quiet and silence,
like a little child in its mother’s arms,
like a little child, so I keep myself.
Let Israel hope in the Lord
henceforth and for ever.
— Psalm 131-
