The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
These words from the second reading would be enough to reflect on for a lifetime. They are words that, like many of the profound sayings and exhortations from scripture, are often discarded or overlooked without any serious consideration. What does it mean to "compete well" for the faith?
In order to compete well, there is a certain level of effort and focus that is required. Anyone who has ever competed well for anything knows that it is certainly not a passive ordeal that just happens "at" us. Yet we sometimes treat our faith this way, assuming we've done our job if we are generally good people doing just enough not to go to hell. We're excellent at compartmentalizing God to Mass on Sundays, a prayer group, or special Bible study, without having Him touch any other aspect of our lives. We keep God contained within the boundaries of what we consider "reasonable" that conforms to our lifestyles.
But there is nothing reasonable when you're in competition.
You push yourself to your very limit and beyond, aggressively pressing against all the forces that aim to keep you from victory. All your concentration is on the goal, and all your resources are utilized in order to accomplish the extraordinary. Much of what is demanded of you to win a competition is exceptionally UN-reasonable. But the prize, the very aim of what you are competing for, is often far more valuable than the demands being made.
Could we describe our lives of faith this way? Do we put everything into the pursuit of the most precious prize of eternal life with God?
Ask yourself -- am I more focused on my own entertainment and comfort, living life much like is described in the first reading: Stretching comfortably on our couches, "eating our meats and drinking the fine wines from our bowls?" Maybe for us, it looks like prioritizing catching up on whatever streaming show we're behind on, or being focused on finding new ways to have fun. "Woe to the complacent in Zion!" We must compete to WIN. What will it take? Certainly forgoing some of our entertainments and pleasures, investment of our actual time and effort into our faith, and focus on actually attaining the goal for which we are running the race.
Andrew Montpetit is a Motion Graphic Designer / Animator in West Michigan. He greatly enjoys good films and deep, substantive conversations about beauty and its pursuit. You can find his work on his website.
