I watched my grandson play baseball last night. He’s eight and has been playing baseball since he was four. Four-year-old T-ball is a hoot! Children know the idea is to hit the ball, run, catch the ball, and throw the ball—but exactly when you do what is dependent on someone yelling directions. It’s tremendous fun to watch—but there’s not much discipline and so the game itself is secondary.
But last night the players had skill. They knew when and how to hit, run, catch, and throw. They could play ball—and enjoy (or suffer) baseball as a game. Though still not exactly ready for the big leagues, they had been formed by discipline enough to truly play.
What images come to your mind for the word “discipline?” Punishment? Correction? Routine? Structure? Each of those images captures an aspect of discipline. The word discipline comes from the word “disciple.” Disciple means “student, learner.” Discipline is the process of learning. The readings today center around God’s discipline for his children—for us.
Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13
The selection from Hebrews quotes Proverbs to describe the theme for today, “My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges [receives].”
The author of Hebrews names a truth we can all relate to: “At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it.” Whether it was the discipline of conditioning and skill practice from a sports coach or the discipline of habit formation of a boss or the discipline of learning the behavior expectations of our family—we have all had experiences when discipline seemed a hard and terrible thing. Yet, surely, we also can see, looking back, that discipline well administered brought the fruit of righteousness.
But then, the author of Hebrews adds an element that we as adults would rather not consider: “Endure your trials as ‘discipline’; God treats you as sons.”
Stop for a moment and list your current trials. Think of: physical pain or health concerns; struggles with others; tasks that are hard to do; frustrations of daily life. Do you think of them as sources of discipline from God to help you bear the fruit of righteousness?
Yet the truth is that people who thwart us, problems that do not solve quickly or easily, struggles with our bodies, minds, or souls—all those things do strengthen us. If I think of Fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control), they ALL develop well in the middle of trials and problems. I have learned to love by loving people who are hard to love. I have found joy by losing happiness. Storms in life have enabled me to seek and find peace within.
Likewise, Gifts of the Spirit (fear of the Lord, piety, courage, knowledge, wisdom, understanding, and counsel) have developed within me when I met challenges in life with prayer and seeking God’s direction. OH!
Thinking of it that way, God’s Presence of the Holy Spirit within me GROWS when I face life’s difficulties with the discipline of following God’s directions.
Isaiah 66:18-21
This brief selection from the last chapter of Isaiah was written to be an encouragement for the people as they returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. They had just experienced an awful discipline: seventy years of exile in Babylon. The author is reminding them now: there is going to be a wonderful fruit of what you have learned: your city, your faith, your way of being in the world will be the foundation for a whole new way of being—which, of course, is Christ.
Luke 13:22-30
“On the Road with Jesus” continues this week with another conversation. Jesus, his disciples, and various curious people continue to walk uphill from Jericho to Jerusalem. I can see a walker slip through the crowd to come along side of Jesus. He’s been listening and has questions in his heart. He asks, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” Is he wondering how much discipline is required to follow Jesus? Is he feeling inspired by what he hears Jesus say—but also troubled? Will discipleship be worth it?”
Jesus answers these deeper questions, rather than how many will be saved. He is saying in effect, “Just hanging around in God places is not enough. Being a member of a church is not enough. Jesus tells a bit of a parable about those who eventually want to enter into God’s Kingdom. They knock on the door. Jesus yells through the door “I do not know where you are from.” They say, “We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.” [Would that translate today to “I’ve had all my sacraments and I come to mass sometimes.”] But Jesus repeats, “I do not know where you are from. Depart from me.”
Then Jesus repeats the theme from Isaiah, “And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
What does that “first will be last and last will be first” mean? Commentary I have read says it refers to the Jews, who are to be included in the kingdom—they may have more trouble believing in Jesus and others (Gentiles) may enter more readily, but they are to be included.
Applications
What is the narrow gate that Jesus speaks of? Saints through the centuries describe the narrow gate as matching our will and life to the requirements of the commandments and Jesus’ example of self-giving love. This path of discipline is the path to true freedom and flourishing here on earth—as well as entry into the kingdom of God in eternity.
This is not freedom from, but freedom to. Consider baseball. If you watch four or five year olds play—there seems to be a lot of freedom on the field: they run in all directions; they throw the ball to someone—including sometimes someone on the other team! But they don’t have the freedom that practice and skill bring to truly play baseball. By the time they are eight, they know how to play. Yet, how much better will they be when the discipline of team sports forms them more and they step out on the field on a high school team…or even the Major Leagues.
In Friday’s Gospel this past week another questioner asked Jesus “which commandment is greatest,” Jesus described the narrow way of the discipline of “you shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind…The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
What does that mean in my life? That is the question I am asking Jesus every day in prayer. For the moment, it means living all of Part Three of the Catechism, Life in Christ. It includes living a Life of Grace in the Spirit, living by the Principles of Catholic Social Teaching, and living by the Ten Commandments.
No small discipline. A narrow gate that defies politics and labels. Yet freedom to play well.
Prayer
Lord, help me understand exactly what the narrow gate means for me. Give me the grace and courage to enter it—now in how I live, eventually in how I spend Eternity. Help me accept your discipline, that Fruits and Gifts of the Spirit may grow in me.
