"St John the Baptist Preaching" by Rodin
I don’t want to turn this blog into an archive of Sunday sermons, but here is one thought from a recent Advent homily – about procrastination and the difficulty of doing what we really want to do.
I’ve spent the twenty-five years of my life as an adult telling myself that next week I will start flossing my teeth. Tonight, I’ll stand in front of the bathroom mirror, as I always do, with the same excuses: “I’m tired. It’s been a long day. I need to sleep. But next week, definitely, absolutely, I’ll begin.”
What’s dental hygiene got to do with Advent? Nothing at all. But my personal struggles in this area are an example of how easy it is for us to put things off. Little things. Big things. Life changing things. There’s always a tomorrow; and we always think we have more time.
John the Baptist is the patron saint of ‘not putting things off’. He bursts onto the pages of the gospels like someone from another world. And meeting him is not a comfortable experience.
You know when you are sitting on the top deck of a bus, and someone slightly deranged gets on, talking to no-one in particular, staggering around – and everyone freezes, uncertain where this is going to go, self-conscious, and slightly frightened.
Or when you’re driving the car, lost in a day-dream, and something jolts you awake, and you realise you were within an inch of a terrible accident; and in those moments afterwards your experience a strange mix of alertness, gratitude, vulnerability and delayed terror. These are some of the feelings aroused today when John the Baptist starts to preach.
You can put his message into one word. “Now!” Now is the time to repent. Now is the time to bear fruit. Now the axe is about to strike the root.
Think of anything important in your life that you have been putting off. Anything good and worthwhile. And John says: If it is really important, then just do it. Now. There may not be another chance.
Is there a promise you haven’t kept? A responsibility you haven’t fulfilled? Is there someone you need to love more, or see more, or avoid seeing? Is there someone you need to forgive, or say sorry to? Is there a decision you’ve been putting off, an opportunity you’ve been afraid to seize, a holy ambition you haven’t pursued, or a vocation you’ve been running away from? Is there a tiny change in your habits or lifestyle or view of the world that would make a huge difference to yourself and to others, that you haven’t made simply because you haven’t got round to it?
What would John the Baptist say? “Now!” Deal with it now. You may never have another chance. And you may spend the rest of your life regretting that you didn’t put things right or take things forward while you had the chance.
YES!
x
Oh dear – that really hit home and would have had me squirming in the pew as I am a great procrastinator.
Above my desk I have a postcard showing a quote from Alphonse Allais which seemd apt when I found it. I had not heard of him at the time but on looking him up discovered he had a way with words which rather endeared me to him.
‘Ne remets pas a demain ce que tu peux faire apres-demain.’ (Don’t decide to do something tomorrow when you can do it the day after tomorrow.)
Perhaps I ought to take it down! I had no idea that St John the Baptist was the patron saint of not putting things off. Thank you Father for this thought provoking post.
This post is definitely a timely remonder. On so many occasions I have found myself in a position where I thought I should have done or said something, only to realise that it’s too late then. Thankyou for this Father Stephen!
What a very inspiring homily Fr. Stephen. Well…. if I feel I’m lacking motivation to do something NOW I know who I’m going to pray to :-)
Thank You for sharing your thoughts it’s certainly strengthening
Yesterday I sent an email to jon the Catholic Workers movement. I also sent my application off for my degree in counselling. I also compiled my anual christmas letter spreading the movements email address. God rebuilds us by thrashing us stone upon stone, sanding us till the rough edges are smoothed away, and polishing us until we shine like jewels. Not yesterday, not tomorrow, Now!
I’ve been poorly this week. I felt hideously worse than the flu suggested I should have felt. I was grounded and immobilised and I was frustratingly made to stop as life continued to swirl around me for a few days, I was forced to be alone with myself, more alone than I usually would have been.
I found myself watching a movie that I had been inspired to track down. It was about 2 very different lives and one of them running out before it should have done. It was about the insurmountable barriers of relationships that sometimes life and almost definitely death cannot overcome.
Only unlike I was expecting, through bravery they were overcome, by communication and honesty and Love and through Gods Will the people triumphed.
My poorlyness and pain this week gave me a mini epiphany about what my absolute deepest desires are in life. I have always seen my writing and poetry in a way as personal and self indulgent and so I have never fully pursued it. We can sometimes be distracted into doing something ‘worthwhile’ in the eyes of others, which whilst actually can be a good cause and a valuable life experience and tool and a great service to others, isn’t necessarily the Gift that we were ordained with.
Even your old posts come back to haunt me. In the nicest possible way. Bridges and Tangents appears to be a cat amongst my pigeons at times.
Mags,
I hope you are feeling better in every way! My own experience and that of others I know has been something like this. When we are physically low, we can become psychologically low as well. Because of this and our enforced ‘looking at the four walls’, we tend to question lots of things in life and reassess our feelings. It seems you’ve done just this – your mini epiphany. You certainly are not alone; Bridges and Tangents has made me look at some of my own beliefs, attitudes and actions and question them deeply.
I hope you are soon up and running and back amongst the people you are usually with.