Running the race that lies before us

The first race for the Catholic Middle School Athletic Association this year was run on Yom Kippur at Sunken Meadow State Park. It was a marathon day for me; I choreographed the schedule the night before, including planning for a “meal” in the car.

I had to leave my house in the early afternoon to get to the school, pick up all the girls on the team, and drive them to Sunken Meadow State Park. After the race, we ate pepperoni, crackers, snap peas, and fruit on our way to softball practice. Near the field we stopped at McDonald’s for a 20-pack of chicken nuggets. I treated myself to a chocolate shake.

I remember the first year we started with organized sports. My eldest was 4 years old and we had started our official homeschooling for kindergarten. Soccer practice was the only place we had to be, twice a week; games were on Sundays. There was a family there with several foster children, who were all enrolled in teams in our local sports association.

“When do you eat?” I asked the mother incredulously.

“Sometimes we have to eat in the car,” she answered.

I was shocked. I would never let my family get so busy that we couldn’t sit down for a meal.

Eight years later, the joke is on me, and I remembered thinking that during the drive from cross country to softball. NEVER judge another parent until you have been in their shoes! As any professional runner will tell you, part of “running the race that lies before us” is never looking back to see what the other runners are doing.

You can see my eldest daughter (in the far right of this picture) as she breaks away from the pack and takes the lead in the first leg of this race. She is looking back, something one of her coaches noticed and pointed out to her. She finished up sixth in the race. My second daughter finished around number 20 and kept her focus straight ahead. Who did better? The motto of every runner is: “Do your personal best.”

This point is also made clear in one of the books in the C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, “The Horse and His Boy”. The young girl asks Aslan what happened to a boy who had disobeyed and the answer is: “That is his story, not yours.”

According to The Catechism of the Catholic Church, the “great cloud of witnesses” includes all the saints from the beginning to the end of time. Saints are any people that are, or will be, accepted into Heaven; only the Lamb of God knows who these are for sure, but the Church will occasionally canonize those who have lived such a holy life that they are virtually certain they must be in Heaven.

These witnesses are all cheering us on, as we strive to achieve God’s plan for us. Going to Confession helps us to unburden the sins that are bogging us down. We are to keep our eyes on Jesus, not the people around us, during our race. That means not being too bothered by what others think of us, and not losing our focus by dwelling on what others are doing.

Hebrews 12: 1-2(NAB)
1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us
2
while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith. For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.

Without Blemish

This is the last in a week-long series of brief devotionals to go along with the daily readings. Please come back next week to see how we're doing with going back to school.

“… He has now reconciled in his fleshly body through his death, to present you holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before Him…”

Colossians 1:22

Saul was a persecutor of Christians and upon his conversion was granted a new identity as Paul. Whatever sins might be in your past, if you have repented and are now living in Christ, He has wiped your slate clean. This does not mean that we are perfect. Even St. Paul continually groans about his inability to keep from sinning. We all commit venial sins from time to time. Christ’s blood continually washes away those sins, as long as we keep our faith in Him. If we stumble and commit mortal sin, we must confess so that we can be made clean again. If we do not waver from our belief, we can know that we will be presented without fault when our time comes.

Prayer: Father, thank you for sacrificing your Son that I might live.

Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da
The Conversion of Saint Paul
1600-1601
Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome

First Reconciliation

We are starting to get excited about my son’s upcoming First Communion. He knows all his prayers by heart and is ready to make his First Reconciliation. The girls will be making their annual Lenten Confession at the same time.

In our parish we have a public confession for families. Three priests sit on the altar. The entire body of parishioners has a brief prayer service, followed by the invitation to come onto the altar for confession. Parishioners line up and go to whichever priest is available at the moment. Confession is made quietly and is only “public” in that it is made out in the open in front of the parish. Children who are making theirs for the first time fill out a card and hand it to the priest so that the date of their First Reconciliation can be recorded by the Church.

My children are always nervous when it is time to go. They have trouble coming up with their list of sins, and worry about what the priest will think of them. They think they will stumble somewhere in their recital of the Act of Contrition.

But they always come down off the altar with bright smiles on their faces. The priest is always so understanding, and they feel so good getting the guilt of their sins off their little hearts and minds.

Last night at dinner, the children were talking about what sins they might confess. They were each full of suggestions about what sins each of the others should confess!

Then they asked me if I would be going up with them. “I don’t know,” I answered.

“Well you don’t have any sins, do you?”

“Everyone has sins,” I said.

“What kind of sins could you possibly have?” This question coming from my eleven-year-old, it truly warmed my heart. Of all my children, and at the age at which criticism of all family members comes naturally, she should know the best that I am not perfect. That she should still view me as largely inculpable was humbling.

“Well, that’s between me and God, same as for you.”

Thus ended the plucking of logs from each of the other’s eyes, and the soul-searching began.

Painting Above: Christ Cleansing the Temple, Berdardino Mei, 1650, Getty Museum.

What's Red and White All Over?

I suppose it happens to every mother at least once.

I pulled the white wash out of the drier late last night and repeatedly moaned, “Oh no. . .oh no. . .oh no. . .”

“What’s the matter?” my husband asked.

“Somebody must have left a red crayon in their pocket. . .”

Every single item was streaked with red lines. The drier, too, was streaked red inside the drum.

After examining each piece, I realized there were no pockets in any of them.

“The baby must have stuck a red crayon in the laundry basket,” I said.

“Go ahead, blame the baby,” my husband joked.

I put everything back in the washer, and dumped a few cups of bleach in, letting it soak for a half hour and hoping for the best. I let the machine complete the cycle before going to bed.

When I woke up this morning, I again pulled each piece out, one by one. A few socks had been spared, and the dish towels were worn ragged to begin with, but all the undershirts, and especially all of my son’s uniform shirts, were irreparably harmed. I found the real culprit, a pair of Spiderman undies with a red waistband. Who in their right mind would invent such a horrid thing?

I tried one more wash with about a quart of bleach. Some pieces came out a little better, but my son was going to need a whole new set of uniform shirts. Good thing he has gym tomorrow, and will need a white shirt for only one more day before Easter vacation. He was growing out of that size anyway, I further reasoned, trying to mentally minimize my loss.

Today is the traditional day to go to confession before Easter, and I thought my laundry problem could physically represent the need to have our sins washed away by the Blood of Jesus. We can do all the good works we like to wash our dirty laundry but only He can take those red stripes of sin away. By His Stripes we are healed.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrightousness.”
I John 1:9

Painting above:
No. 33 Scenes from the Life of Christ: 17. Flagellation
1304-06
Fresco, 200 x 185 cm
Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua