11th Sunday after Pentecost 20.8.06 Receiving and Sending
Receive this salt, learning from it how to relish what is right and good…
Ephpheta, which is: Be open. To the sweet fragrance about you. (from Rite of Baptism) Ears, nose, mouth… the sense organs are being engaged so that they will be used to perceive the good things of God and to make Him known.
As you hear, proclaim. We take it in; we give it out.
There is a saying in the computer world: Garbage In, Garbage Out. If we don’t programme the computer properly the results will be useless.
There is a story of a young man who was in the company of an elderly religious brother. Something happened to upset the young man and he swore.He immediately apologized. The brother put this image before him: A rail cart of coal is travelling along and suddenly comes to a stop. Some of the coal falls out’. The point being that when startled what is in us will come out. We may be on our best behaviour but if the bad stuff is there it will come out. We need to have the right stuff inside us so even when taken off guard our response will be right and good.
What goes in must come out! The miracles of Our Lord in restoring sight and hearing and speech are signs of His blessing our sense organs so that we will use them properly. We will take in the right things and give out the right things.
So how do we regulate what we take in? Living in this media age, we are flooded with images and sounds, so we have to be very careful what we allow to come inside us.
What we watch on television, for example. Television and films are far more explicit than they used to be. Many Catholics still watch whatever is served up, without discriminating – watching things that would have shocked their grandparents; that might have shocked themselves thirty years ago.
The point is we don’t have to watch something just because it is on. Or even if ‘everyone’ is watching it. Each of us has the power and the duty to decide whether ‘I’ will watch this. If it is harmful, if it is an occasion of sin, then switch it off.
Many of you, I know, have thrown out the TV already. Others are trying to use it for just videos or programs you can control. Opinions will differ on how much is acceptable.
But it is better to err on the side of caution if in doubt. Some will argue we need to understand contemporary culture. Sure, but if we recognize slime we don’t have to wade through it to make sure it was slime.
We can have a fair idea what others are thinking without actually doing exactly what they do.
What we watch, what we read,what we listen to. It all has an effect. What ideas are we taking into our heads?
It is sometimes useful to read material which opposes the Church, like opinion pieces in the newspaper.
But we don’t want to do that to the point that it is shaking our faith. Many Catholics have lost their faith by mixing in the wrong company, by reading the wrong material.
There is much mocking of the Catholic faith, but to every criticism or question there are good answers.
If we read only the attack and not the defence there is a chance we could lose our own faith.
So we discern what we read, and whose conversations or speeches we listen to.
St.Paul says: Fill your minds with all that is good and holy (Ph 2,8).
We need good spiritual reading; good things to watch and listen to (tapes etc); good internet sites.
What we take in is what we give out. We can be good without being sanctimonious. It’s just a matter of balance.
We don’t have to mention ‘religion’ in every sentence, but if we are truly religious whatever we find to say will be good and it will be the best thing to say in that situation.
Explain things ‘agreeably and with a flavour of wit’(Colossians 4,5-6)
