A Sunday Thought About Being Like Jesus To Kick Off The Summer

Being like Jesus: We read this; we hear it. But when we think about it, we may wonder what it could possible mean. No?

So let's kick off this first Sunday of summer and the next few with some wise words from those who have thought much about it and have something worthwhile to share.

Here's something short and sweet from Rev. George Zimpfer:

“The life we live is our greatest prayer. And that life does not consist so much in knowledge or activity as it does in knowing how to use what we have learned, in our mental attitude toward our activities, our interpretation of them. If we would be truly spiritual, we must seek to fashion our own life upon that of Jesus, to think and act and speak with Him as Pattern and Guide. Our true life, as the Kingdom of God, is within us. What we do and how we do it are simply expressions of this spirituality.”

There's nothing too mysterious, mystical or complicated here.

It's important to know that our greatest prayer is the life we live. Sure, any Catholic worth his or her salt has various devotions and pious practices that are pursued separate and apart from the normal daily activities of life. We reserve time for these and turn our attention to them best we can. Despite the usual distractions that plague all of us when trying to pray or meditate, or focus our attention on spiritual reading, studying Scripture, attending Mass, saying the Rosary, etc., the mere fact that we have set aside this special time garners its own merit. 

But, let's face it, no matter how devout we may be, normal folks simply can't spend the bulk of their time in these separated chunks of devotion. Our days consist of the ordinary activities of daily life. Depending on your particular state of life - single, married, clergy - we all have duties and obligations. Right off the bat, we who work for a living typically spend the most hours in a given day on the job at least Monday through Friday. 

So does this mean all that time is "prayer-less"? Our author says "No!" These ordinary times are, in his opinion, our "greatest prayer."

Now, it's not like just doing what we do puts us on a kind of spiritual auto-pilot. Our "mental attitude" is key here. For our everyday activities to reach up to the spiritual realm, we need see them as such. And how to do this? "...seek to fashion our own life upon that of Jesus." More specifically, "...think and act and speak with Hm as Pattern and Guide."

As Catholics, our interior life must serve as the "base" of our spiritual life. And that begins with a real, true relationship with Jesus Christ. We learned, right off the bat in our Catechism lessons that God created us to know, love, and serve Him. Knowledge won't suffice on its own. We must love God. And to make this possible, He sent His Only Son into this world. The Father can seem remote. But Jesus Christ become one of us. He is as real and down-to-earth as the person next to us. We don't need years of theological study, or special training to see this clearly and distinctly. Our Sunday attendance at Mass gives us a chance to see Jesus up close and personal. Better still, if we develop a robust interior life our spiritual life will naturally bring His Presence home to us every day in the ordinary thoughts, words, and deeds of daily living.

We'll continue with this next Sunday...

For now...

Happy Easter!