ARE YOU A PC OR CP?

September 7, 2010

Tuesday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
Luke 6: 12-19

Prayer-full:
Jesus was a man of prayer. Come what may, no matter how busy his day could be of active ministry, Jesus still found time and place to pray. If the day is full of work, the night is full of prayer! If the valleys and planes are full of noise, preaching and action, the mountains are full of silence, solitude, serenity and prayer. How great to realize that the Lord who holds the universe in His heart has got time for everything!

Choice:
Jesus prayed that He may chose well. He prayed that His choices be made in discernment. Life is a series of choices that we make. The Kingdom building life of Jesus consisted in one big choice of Incarnation and salvation, and was marked with the daily choices of making and keeping disciples, Word becoming flesh and flesh becoming Word.

PC and CP:
In prayer and choice one can either be a CP or a PC—Choose and Pray or Pray and Choose. Jesus chose to be a PC. He prayed first and then chose. The whole night He spent in communion with the Father helped Him realize the Holy will of the Father regarding the selection of the Apostles. He was making the foundation of His Church in choosing the Twelve, who would be His ambassadors and visible signs. He brought in prayer to the Father all those who followed Him, the great number of disciples who showed interest in His Kingdom building project. He sought the mind of the Father for each of them. From among the list of the disciples, it was the Holy Trinity that chose the Apostles. It was a choice made in Spirit, in Love and in Life. Although, on the face of it, in human standards, His choice of the twelve seemed foolish, History shows us that, Jesus made the right choice.

In most of my decisions and choices of my life, I realize that I am more a CP than a PC. I choose first and then pray that my choices are right. I set my eyes on the things I like. I choose relationships and comforts that I think are good for me. Then having made my choice and lived with it, I pray that the Lord may approve it, and accept it as His will. I choose jobs, careers, and vocations of my likings and then pray that Lord be pleased with me and my choices. From the daily mundane choices to the choices that have far reaching impacts on my life and the lives of other people I might go by my inclinations and likings first and wish it were the will of God for me and my people.

In being a CP, I am putting pressure on God, compelling Him to change His will. I am praying then that Lord I have made my choice, be pleased with it. In other words, a CP is praying, “Lord my will be done”.