I am always amazed at the stupid things we allow to consume our energy. Believe me, I’m talking to myself here. I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but the McRib sandwich is back at McDonalds – the succulent bbq’d piece of porky goodness that it is. The sad thing is that it isn’t available at every McDonald’s, so there’s actually a website you can go to so that you can track the nearest McRib opportunity nearest you. And so, there I was, taking the time to look it up. Stupid – but just so you know, our nearest location seems to be Meadville or New Castle. In case you’re interested!
Anywho – so much of the stupid stuff of this life can easily distract us from the stuff that really matters. There’s a saying, don’t allow the urgent to crowd out the important – and that is so incredibly true.
This past week we celebrated All Saints Day, and the reason that day is a Holy Day of Obligation, is that we are all called to be Saints. There is no way to get to heaven other than by being a Saint. But we don’t tend to look at it that way.
We tend to think things like ‘I’m a good person, or I’m not that bad, or other people are worse than me….’ And yet what does Jesus tell us today, how does Jesus tell us to be close to the Kingdom of God – the great commandment. The Lord is God, the Lord alone. And we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength, and to love our neighbor as ourself.
Do we do that? Are we close to the Kingdom of God, or are we lost out there being consumed by the stupid things of life, trying to find our metaphorical McRib sandwich, whatever that might be for us.
What is it that keeps us from keeping God first, from loving God with everything we are – what sin of ours, serious sin, habitual sin, sin that we have just accepted as a part of who we are – what is it in our lives that keeps us from being close to the Kingdom of God?
We cannot be content with the sainthood of the past – God calls all of us to be saints, God made us to be saints – God wants nothing more than for us to know him, to love him to serve him in this life so that we can be with him in the next.
And if we really want that last part, if we really and truly want to be with God forever in heaven, then it’s time for us to leave the stupid stuff, and we all know what that is in our lives, the sin, the halfhearted Catholicism, the disordered priorities of life, to leave all of that behind us, and actually start to love God unreservedly, with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our strength, holding nothing back. God help us all. +
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