[1]St. Mother Teresa
once compared our inner workings to that of “the inner workings of electrical things, where we often see small and
big wires, new and old, cheap and expensive, all lined up. Until the current
passes through them there will be no light. That wire is you and me. The
current is God. We have the power to let the current pass through us, use us,
produce the light of the world. Or we can refuse to be used and allow darkness
to spread.”[2]
In our heart of hearts, we all hope that once
we’re converted to God’s current, our lives will automatically be free from power
surges and other temptations. But that’s never quite the case, as today’s
readings show.
Often, just when we think we have our faith
and life wired correctly, we throw the switch to add the current, and in short
order something pops the breaker disrupting the currents flow. It may be a
temptation we wrestle with, where we may choose to rewire around what we know
is right and just or choose to leave the breaker off pretending we didn’t know
the current stopped flowing within. It could be an old wound that reenters our
consciousness or highly sensitive topic that causes an emotional surge, that
short circuits our wiring.
We’re all human. I know I’ve been shocked
many times, even knocked to the ground, by a sudden surge of voltage, applied
by an unexpected source. Despite all best efforts, the unkind thoughts will
come; the unjust actions will slip out, the sharp word will fall from my lips. Unnoticed
at first; anger, resentment, and a hardened heart will appear, popping the
breaker or short circuiting our efforts, thus darkening our vision of God’s goodness
and righteousness.[3]
Every day, we must constantly perform
preventative maintenance on our internal circuitry by remaining focused on
God’s pure current. Each day we must choose to keep Beelzebul at bay, to
fortify our interior wiring against the tide and storms of his demons. To let
the Master Electrician, Jesus, check our wiring to ensure the current is flowing
in the right direction, from our hearts to our head, and if need be to reconcile
the system by resetting the popped breaker.
As Advent approaches, its readings will advise us to keep awake, for “no one knows when the day of judgement will come.” (Mt 24:36) Our daily preventative maintenance program needs to include regular prayer, self-reflection, and participation in the Sacrament of Reconciliation to continually check our internal connections that is the way we keep God’s current of holy love flowing through us to be a light of the world.
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