Fr. Frank Majka, SJ – The Bridge

Talk Is Cheap

In chapter 21 of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus tells about a father who had two sons and asked them to help out in his field. One said he would, but his words didn’t have any follow-through; the second said he wouldn’t help, but showed up nonetheless.

You might think we are mostly like the first son, full of good-sounding words towards God but often failing to put them into action. It may be like that more than we’d care to admit. On the other hand, I certainly know people who’ve seemed uncooperative to God’s desires, but then did what God wanted after all.

So, I guess we aren’t as good as we’d like others to think we are, but, amazingly, aren’t as bad as we seem to be, either. Indeed, there may not be much consistency between what we say and what we do — and sometimes that works out just fine.
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Dusty Day

Good Eats

Summer is the time for cookouts and barbecues, whether in the backyard, the ballpark parking lot, or on a fire escape with a hibachi. A couple of weeks ago, the Mass readings were about food, too. I’m thinking especially of a reading from Isaiah, chapter 55, where God tells people to work for food that truly nourishes.

It’s a sad truth that a lot of us are hooked on junk food. The fact is that not all food is good food. One consumer advocate was quoted as having said years ago that, when it comes to kids’ cereals, there’s sometimes more food value in eating the box than the cereal inside.

Maybe we should check to see if, along with our families and parishes, we’re focused on those things that feed our spirits, or are hooked on those things that may look enticing on the outside but really don’t nourish our hearts and souls. Maybe we’ll discover it’s time we changed our diet.

Words Fail

Surprising Growth

Sometimes growth happens quickly and dramatically, but most of the time it’s more slow and subtle. The Kingdom of God is a lot like that, according to Jesus. He told about a man who planted a crop, then went to bed and woke up day after day without noticing that much was happening until, one day, he looked out to see a field of ripe grain.

Summer’s like that, too. Long hot days stretch out during July and early August, and not much seems to be happening. But then there’s a change in the evening air, leaves on trees start looking a dry and brittle, long sleeve shirts replace tank tops, and we notice that fall is coming on.

It’s also the same in our lives. We have long stretches when we don’t feel that much is happening to us or the people around us. Then one day we notice we’ve gotten older, and yesterday’s boys and girls have turned into men and women.

If that’s the way things work most of the time, it might be good to step back and try to see what’s been growing while we haven’t been looking. We might be surprised at what we find.