There was this important job to be done and everybody was asked to doit. Everybody was sure that somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but nobody did it.
Somebody got angry about that because it was everybody's job. Everybody thought that anybody could do it, but nobody realized that everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that everybody blamed somebody when actually nobody asked anybody.
One of the challenges we face each Lent is the call to do good works. Fasting, alms-giving and prayer are great, but the real test is in our commitment to actually doing some virtuous actions.
In a recent homily Fr. Brendan McGuire posed this comparison: "Think of the difference between a thermometer and a thermostat! A thermometer just tells you what the temperature is; it is a static reality; it reflects only what the environment is; it tells you if it is hot, or if it is cold, or if it is lukewarm.
"A thermostat on the other hand sets the temperature of the room; it's the one that takes in what the temperature of the room is and then moves the temperature of the room in the direction in which you desire it to go.In other words, it is the instrument that sets the temperature of the room."
McGuire goes on to explain, "That is the way of our discipleship.We know, as Christians, we are called to do more than what other people do because that is only like a thermometer.We just reflect back to what other people do.
"Well, I am only doing what other people do.Why do other people get away with that; why can't I get away with that?Nobody else is reaching out to the poor?' We are merely doing what other people are doing."
And that is the challenge to the Christian. We are called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. McGuire says, "We are called to set the temperature of society by our actions." We set the bar at a new level!
We forgive before somebody forgives us; we reach out where there is a need. We become pro-active. We do not merely reflect the temperature of those around us. We set the temperature. We are the thermostats of Jesus Christ.
I don't know about you, but that presents a challenge that is too great for me alone. We need the Spirit working in us, and we need the strength and grace that we can find in prayer and the sacraments. Lent is just such a time of renewal and strengthening.
