Really now? I looked a little closer. But that’s how it was. A few days ago, in a remote Canadian town, I watched an elderly woman taking a can of WD-40 spray from her handbag. „Always with me, you never know.“ Meanwhile, she was spraying the contact spray into the keyhole of the church’s rear entrance door. Then she inserted the key. Voilà! The previously stuck key could now be turned without any problems. Access to the church was free. And everyone who wanted to pray could enter.
I’m currently sitting with a fellow brother priest in a room in the north of England at „The Catholic Parish Summit“. Unfortunately, I left my UK-EU-Universal travel adapter on the train. He has just shown me how to use his belt to get the EU plug into the UK socket without any problems … of course only as a temporary solution until we can get something tomorrow.
Both stories remind me of an old joke. It’s about three different religious who are praying in a choir. The only light bulb suddenly goes out. They are all sitting in the dark. One begins with „Oh God, have mercy on me sinner!“ The other philosophizes about the nature of light. The third goes into the pantry and changes the light bulb.
Sometimes we over-spiritualize things. „I just can’t manage to get out of bed on time – I am praying a novena that I’ll make it.“ Some physical illnesses aside, it doesn’t take a novena to get out of bed. A little kick in the right place does the trick, you just have to take yourself into your own hands. Another example of this: You make all kinds of considerations about God during prayer or even talk to him, but don’t allow what you say to affect your own will. It all remains nice and theoretical, where you don’t have to change anything. Or things are interpreted as signs in order to linger in idleness. The woman with the WD-40 could have said: Surely the rusted lock is a sign that we shouldn’t pray today.
The saints were eminently practical people when it came to making their love for God practical. We are currently in the middle of the sermon series on authenticity. This is also part of it. „Obras son amores“, wrote St. Teresa of Avila (Love is shown in deeds, not simply in good intentions). Authenticity in our love: this is what I wish for you, this is what I wish for myself!
God’s blessing!
Father George
