Today I want to tell you the tale of two nights. The first night was spent in the rectory at one of my summer assignments as a seminarian. Leading up to that night, I had been watching the show “The Walking Dead” through Netflix. At that time, the main way to watch Netflix was by ordering DVDs in the mail. So I had queued up several discs of the show and was enjoying it quite a bit. The show had an engaging story line, well-written characters and, as the show’s title would suggest, zombies (or ‘walkers’ as they called them in the show).
I had really been enjoying the show, but that night was anything but enjoyable. I don’t remember the specifics of it, but I had a bad nightmare. Now, some of you might think that isn’t a big deal. Nightmares happen. But not for me. I rarely dream and even more rarely have nightmares. So this shook me up a bit. As I considered what brought it on, I realized it must have been related to the show. That was the only thing I could come up with. So I stopped watching it, and wouldn’t you know, the nightmares ceased. Thinking back on that moment, I came to understand that even though I was enjoying the show, I had also been absorbing its worldview without even thinking about it. “The Walking Dead” is a show built on hopelessness, and that had seeped into my heart and mind.
But now let me tell you about another night. This one took place on a retreat with Saint Paul’s Outreach, the Catholic Group I was part of in college. The retreat was held in Detroit, and we stayed overnight at a retreat center run by a lay Catholic group whose specialty was praying with people for deliverance. They had special permission to do this from their Bishop and used this prayer ministry as a way to help people be free of any influence evil spirits may have in their hearts. This is distinct from exorcism, which only priests are allowed to do and which involves a deeper relationship between the exorcist, the person he is praying with, and the evil spirit or spirits tormenting that person. During the retreat, I decided to ask the people at this center to pray for me to find greater freedom from some sins I had been grappling with, and they happily agreed. After they prayed with me that night, I returned to my room to sleep. Our accommodations there were pretty simple, so I was in a sleeping bag on the floor. But let me tell you, that was one of the most peaceful nights of sleep I’ve ever had. It was like being a little child again curled up in Mom or Dad’s lap. That was how safe and content I felt, because I truly was able to just rest in the Father’s embrace that night.
I speak about these two nights – one of fear and one of peace – because they highlight two distinct states of mind and heart that any of us can choose at any time. We can be those whose minds and hearts are protected, guided and enlightened by Jesus through the Holy Spirit, or we can be those whose minds and hearts are scattered, darkened and confused by the world, the devil and our fallen flesh. Our call today is to remember that God has made our minds and hearts for Him–made us to be the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, to belong to His Son.
This doesn’t happen automatically. We have to cooperate with the grace God gives us to draw us in. When we resist, we become like those landowners in the parable that start to rebel against the landowner. Those tenants forgot that the land had only been given to them by another to take care of, and began to violently guard it as their own. This is what happens when we turn away from the grace God has given us. We forget that our very breath is given to us by God. We who have been baptized and received the Sacraments, have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. Our hearts have been transformed into temples of the Holy Spirit. It is so easy to take this incredible reality for granted. And when we do that, it gives an opening for other things to rule our thinking and our affections.
I can think of many times in my life where I have not lived up to the challenge St. Paul gives us in the second reading. I have allowed myself to be so preoccupied with worldly things: reputation, possessions, and even sinful things. I’m sure you can relate. So our challenge is to lean more fully into God’s grace so that our minds and hearts can be purified. Come Holy Spirit, help us to be convicted by St. Paul’s words to us today:
whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious,
if there is any excellence
and if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.
Keep on doing what you have learned and received
and heard and seen in me.
Then the God of peace will be with you.
We are called to have minds and hearts set on God so that we can bear the fruit we are meant to bear. Our fruitfulness begins within our hearts. If we set our hearts and minds on ourselves and on our own preoccupations, we risk rejecting the Father’s love and losing that fruitfulness for which He made us! Let’s be careful of what we allow to inform our hearts, because there is much in our world that can draw our hearts and minds away from the Father, leaving us in the darkness, like the nightmare that gripped me years ago. I hope that our lives look like the second night I talked about, that they are fruitful and marked by the peace only God can give us.
+ Father, thank you for warning us against abusing the great gift of being in your kingdom. Jesus, save us from the snares of the world, the flesh and the devil that threaten our minds and hearts. Holy Spirit, pour out your grace on our minds and hearts so that we can have them set on the good, true and beautiful things that come from You. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen. +