A Work in Progress
Jesus told his disciples, “Go into the whole world and
proclaim the gospel to every creature.” How do we do that in a world where more and more people are saying they
have no faith? By ascending to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Two mothers are on a play date. One child was rambunctious, a
little more aggressive and bossy than the other children. The mother, exasperated says, “That child’s a
work in progress.”
The other mother smiled, “We are all works in progress.”
That’s something we all need to realize. In the Father's eyes,
we’re all works in progress - not finished, still far from being perfected. Even
the disciples were a work in progress. Jesus
taught them, gave direction, change their thinking, and they still got it wrong. Jesus’ work in progress, he never quit
on them (or us) sending the Holy Spirit to continue that work
St. Paul says “Live in a manner worthy of the calling.” To get to the point where we can live the way
Jesus wants us is another continuous work in progress. We have to constantly strive to live the Christian
virtues Paul describes: patience, kindness, love, humility, and peace. These
will always be a work in progress.
It’s like tuning a guitar. You practice constantly to be
able to sit down to play. You want beautiful music, but something is wrong. The
music is not right, the notes and chords are out of tune. To play beautifully, you have to tune the
guitar by putting the strings ia a perfect position. It must be done over and over, because playing
will stretch the strings from a perfect. You have to re-tune.
That’s what living a Christian life is about. Many practice. We know what we need to do. We act a certain way; but, we get out
of whack. Living a virtuous Christian life is not a habit, but something to always work at, correct, and
tune. It’s always a work in progress.
Maybe this is why so many have no faith. We live more and more in a world becoming a broken
place; a work in progress that's been abandoned. Brokenness is a song never to be played; it’s
a life that will never know fullness.
Living life in a manner worthy of our calling is no longer
important. This has broken individuals, families, and communities. This brokenness is outlined in an
article about why people are leaving the Church found here. People identify themselves as "None", a person without faith.
A “None” is a person
searching for healing. They look to churches
and find broken communities living a misunderstanding of Christian virtues. And, those that identify as "None” find no healing. Brokenness creates more brokenness. To often these broken communities express Christ's message and God’s love in vessels of fear and eternal threats.
This is not what God wants. It's not the Gospel of Jesus. Only God can recreate the broken. Love, acceptance, and forgiveness heals and creates something out of a “None.”
The readings are about
moving closer to the perfection of Christ, bringing the Gospel to the ends of
the earth. It is how to heal the broken and finish the work in progress. Taking the tools Christ gives us to live a life worthy of our calling in love, acceptance, and forgiveness.
The Lord works in us to build up the body of Christ, the
Church. Until we all attain ultimate unity in our faith, each one of us is a
work in progress. On the Feast of the
Ascension, all of us, the unfinished works in progress should work ourselves a little closer to
perfect through Christ Jesus.
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