Ephesians 4:1-6
Unity in the Body.
"I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."
We as a nation, as a world has experienced a dullness in our faith. It has become lackluster, obligated, a necessary task that we need to do every week when we go to church. But what is truly church and why is church good for us?
For me, I go to church to be in community with my brothers and sisters, to learn about the word, and to receive Christ in the Eucharist.
But also to remember during that the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus did for us. We need to get back into remembering. Remembering that God is a non-negotiable aspect of my life. that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and that I need to open myself to be vulnerable, as broken as I may be, to receive the grace through the Holy Spirit.
What does this take? It takes practice. Practice. Practice. I read many years ago that in order to master a skill, you need to work on it for 10,000 hours.
So let’s set the record straight, it’s not exactly how much we practice, but rather how we practice.
According to Anders Ericcson, there are two essential parts to practice:
Purposeful Practice
Purposeful practice is when you actually pick a target — something that you want to improve — and you find a training activity that would allow you to actually improve that particular aspect.
Deliberate Practice
We think of deliberate practice requiring a teacher that actually has had the experience of how to help individuals reach very high levels of performance.
For me, it’s a constant, daily practice of conversion. Why conversion, so we can return home to our Father. Not make choices in our lives that make us go different directions than where our Shepherd is but to be reminded and remember where home is. This conversion in my life is a radical reorientation of how I’m wired so that I can truly accept God’s path.
That’s hard. That’s difficult. Many times I don’t want to do that. To be humble enough to recognize that the path I am taking is at times very skewed, but I’m ready to reorient myself and focus, laser focus on the path Home.
One faith, One God, One baptism, One Hope.
Jesus. Hope for the world.
Quiet. Serene. Peace. Those were the thoughts I experienced after attending Mass this morning with the monks from St. Meinrad in the deep hearth of southern Indiana. I'm here for a couple of days on a retreat for pastoral musicians. The church itself is an amazing structure of brick, plaster, marble and tile. But what makes it truly "church" for me was worshiping with the monks and other guests at daily Mass. Chanting the psalm response and acclamations, centering myself to receive Christ. The gospel talked about a mustard seed, about how something so small and so insignificant could grow into something greater than most plants.