Recently I spoke with a friend about spiritual matters, and one of the concepts we discussed was simplicity. Simplicity in thought, word and deed, as well as simplicity in lifestyle. One of the passages that came up was “Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries.Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten,your gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony against you; it will devour your flesh like a fire. You have stored up treasure for the last days.” James 5:1-3. It had quite an impact on the discussion, so I read it again later to understand why.
The first thought that comes to mind when I read this passage is the disappointment we feel when we have put something extra nice away for a special occasion, only to pull it off the shelf when the time comes and discover it is moth-eaten, tarnished, or in some other way completely ruined. The celebration itself becomes a bit tainted. A physical item can be replaced, but it is just not the same as the item lost. The celebration is joyous, but what was lost is always in the back of your mind.
Since things can be so easily ruined on the physical level, how much more they can be ruined on the spiritual level! We are invited to the wedding feast of the Son of God. In fact, we are invited to the feast every Sunday at Mass, or daily if we are lucky enough to be able to attend daily. We all know how to behave at a wedding, or so we think. We would never go to a wedding in anything less than our best outfit. We would never ignore the bride and groom, or do anything to draw attention away from where it belongs. It’s not our day, after all!
How does that feeling translate to the spiritual? But how often do we arrive for Mass, the wedding feast of the Lamb of God, on Sunday, wearing whatever we feel like at the moment, jeans, t shirts, our casual best God loves us no matter what we wear, we think. And He does. So do the bride and groom of the earthly wedding, but we would never disrespect them by not wearing our best outfits. So why do we dress down for God?
And why do we so often sit and stew about our worries and wants through Mass, not participating in the great prayer, sometimes not even aware of what is going on around us? Would we go to a human wedding and ignore the bride and groom? So why would we ignore our true Bridegroom? Instead of storing up joy, peace, love, strength, hope when we go to Mass, we store up sadness, strife, anger, bitterness, hatred.
The Mass is a foretaste of heaven, so what treasures are we storing up when we attend? The joy and peace of Christ or the worry and anger of our own passing desires and emotions? Which one would we want to spend all of eternity feeling, joy or anger?
We all feel overwhelmed, worried, exhausted from time to time. It’s normal, and human to feel these things. When we are at Mass, or quietly praying at home, or out and about on a busy day, we are always in the Presence of Christ. If we share our sorrows with Him, He will help us carry-and ultimately defeat them. Christ went to the cross for those things that are troubling us, and the victory is already won. It takes conscious effort to turn our thoughts from things that lead to decay to Christ. It takes a lifetime to perfect the virtue, if ever we can on earth.
©Carol Ann Chybowski, 2016
Carol Ann Chybowski
Carol Ann Chybowski is a long time member of the Catholic Writers Guild. She has published book reviews at various websites and appears in two volumes of A Community of Voices: An Anthology of Santa Barbara. When not busy about her parish, Carol Ann can be found knitting, gardening, or on horseback.
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