By Bishop Christopher Saunders
A memorable quote from Mother Teresa of India is worthy of prayerful meditation. She said: “People think our work is our vocation. However important and worthwhile our work is, nonetheless our vocation is to love Jesus”.
It is so true of all the people of God, ministers and religious and lay people included, that we can easily mislead ourselves into believing that our work is our primary calling when, in fact, we are called to love Jesus, the Christ first, and from that all good works of the apostolate flow.
At this time of the year, we enthusiastically rejoice in being the Easter people, celebrating with gratitude the Easter event that was our redemption when Jesus, through His wondrous Resurrection, became our Light and our Life. In Him, a new day has dawned, and the promise of everlasting life brings to us hope and great joy.
Not long ago I visited a friend dying of cancer. His body is riddled with it and his doctors have told him to put his things in order. There is no cure, he has been told. The reality of death is now upon him and must be reckoned with.
He personally believes that his life has been a worrying mixture of good and bad, the good not so obvious and the bad widely recognised. He wants to be buried as a Catholic, he tells me, as though somehow he might be prevented from doing so. I assured him that his wish will be fulfilled.
More importantly, I endeavour to convince him he has been given a magnificent opportunity for a conversion of heart: to become as God has called him to be – a follower of Christ who loves our Lord unquestionably, to surrender himself entirely to our Saviour and to live his last days as a loving disciple.
In the days ahead, step by step, that is the pathway I hope he will take. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is on hand to cleanse and renew. How fortunate he has been, I assure him some more, to be given a telling reminder that of all the things he has to put in order, the state of his soul requires his foremost attention, right now.
The Life and Passion and Resurrection of Christ calls us to conversion; me individually and collectively too as a society. Jesus’ love for us is just so compelling if we but prayerfully explore the mystery of our redemption with a change of heart in mind. We are capable of being so much more than we are; so much more fully human as God intended us to be.
It is very easy for any of us to live our lives as though there is no tomorrow; most people do. It is so simple just to indulge ourselves in the distractions of the moment, while forgetting the joy of living a fulfilling life in the service of the Lord who has redeemed us in love.
It is one of the difficult lessons of life to learn that the easy track we take too often is not the one the Lord has called us to follow. The way to God, that hopefully we discover on life’s journey, is through the love of Jesus, and Easter in all its promise and beauty is a constant reminder of that profound truth. Ultimately, we come to learn that this is the only way to find enduring happiness and fulfilment in our lives.
I wish you and your family, and your community, God’s choicest blessings during this season of celebration and thanksgiving. A happy and a holy Easter.