Our interests are in the spiritual
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
St Paul said: “Your interests are not in the unspiritual, but in the spiritual.” It is our thirst for things of the spirit that marks us out from those who have no faith. We desire to live a spiritual life. We seek union with God who has revealed Himself to us in His Son, Jesus Christ. We seek union with God who has poured the Holy Spirit into our hearts. Our interests are not finally in the unspiritual. We live a spiritual life.
We are, first and foremost, people of the Spirit and not of the world. We know that this world is just a passing place. Our homeland is in heaven. Thus, we live in the world, but we are not of the world.
We come to Mass because we know that the Mass draws us into communion with the living God. At Mass we offer our praise and thanksgiving to God the author of life and all that is good. At Mass we listen to the Word of God who speaks to our hearts through the Sacred Scriptures. At Mass we receive the risen Lord into our hearts when we approach the altar for Holy Communion. Because our interests are in spiritual things Holy Mass is at the centre of our life.
But there is more.
To desire things of the spirit, we have an active prayer life. Each day we devote time to prayer. It might be our morning or night prayer. It might be turning our mind to God during the day and offering simple aspirations of faith. It might be saying some of our favourite prayers. Each day we commune with the living God whom we know accompanies us in the passage of our life.
We also want to allow God to fashion our minds with His truth and wisdom. We want to be raised above mere human considerations and be inspired by divine wisdom. We seek the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit, to bring light to our minds. We are attentive to the Lord’s teachings found in the Gospels and the traditions the faith reflected throughout the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church. We know that there we can find the truth about human life and the path to virtuous living. It is God’s truth that shapes the way we think, and speak, and act.
The spiritual person desires to seek the will of God. We ask for divine guidance in our decisions. We want to what God asks of us, as we say in the Lord’s Prayer, “thy will be done”. We know that what God asks of us is for our good. We trust God’s loving plan for our life. We entrust our future into God’s hands, knowing that all will be well.
We place our lives in the hands of God. We know His personal interest in and love for us. Thus, whatever befalls us, we know that God is there to help and save. Thus, we have within us a deep inner peace. We are not afraid, for God is with us.
As people of faith we live our lives as spiritual men and spiritual women. What is most precious to us is our faith. It is the knowledge that we are beloved in God’s sight. He has embraced us as His sons and daughters. We can confidently call him, Abba, Father. We know our final destiny is to be with Him forever in heaven. Eternal joy awaits us. This inspires us to accept the trials of life and the struggles that come our way. We see that heaven awaits so we press on. We do not give up.
Our interests are in the spiritual because we know that God’s Holy Spirit abides within us. The Holy Spirit inspires us to become holy. We desire to become more like God, and we desire to live a life of virtue, embracing goodness, truth and beauty.
In the Gospel reading today is an encouraging and reassuring teaching by the Lord. He has said that His yoke is easy and His burden light. He does not weigh us down with demands or with impossible expectations. He invites us to come to Him for He is gentle and humble in heart. He says that we will find rest for our souls.
Today at this Mass we are reminded that we are people interested in the spiritual and we respond to his invitation to come to him. Let us come to God today with trust and surrender. Let us take up his invitation and place all our burdens before him. Let us not carry them alone. He wants to give rest to our souls. Let us allow Him to do this.
We are people interested in the spiritual. We hear God say to each of us today, “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.”
Archbishop Julian Porteous
Sunday, July 5, 2020