Jesus told a LOT of parables, putting hard biblical truths into everyday situations where ordinary people would get the meaning. This way of explaining things seems to have been lost with a LOT of theologians, who use big words and fancy philosophy to express themselves. This article will try to explain a few truths using Jesus’ method.
The Cold Room
I really hate being in a cold room. Down here in Texas, one has to take a sweater to my church in the summertime, because the air conditioner is set to be very cool. The priests and deacons wearing all of those thick vestments must get rather warm during Mass, so they turn the temperature down so that they don’t sweat during the service. The rest of us who come dressed in our summer clothes then learn the lesson: be prepared and bring a coat to Mass the next time.
Being prepared for the unexpected is a great lesson to learn, whether by bringing something warm to a church during the summer or being prepared for an emergency while going about our daily duties. For the real Catholic, we try to be prepared for death every day by saying our prayers (especially the Rosary) for many reasons, including:
- increased faith
- praise of God
- sorrow for our sins
- thanksgiving
- petitions
- keeping our thoughts pure (“In the name of Jesus, I reject, renounce, repudiate, and rebuke any impure and evil thoughts, and through the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Chaste Heart of St. Joseph, I pray that these demonic thoughts be replaced with pure thoughts of loving Jesus, and loving/forgiving my family and neighbor, now and forever, AMEN”)
- doing good works in the name of Jesus
- giving alms to the poor
- reading the Bible
- going to frequent confession
- going to Mass
- and so on.
Anybody who’s been around the dying knows that they get VERY cold before death comes for them, because their blood just doesn’t flow well through their veins and arteries anymore. Most are wrapped up in coats and blankets with the heat turned way up in their rooms. If we follow Jesus totally while alive and the time comes for our final breath, the room where we die will not be so cold but instead will be warm with the presence of the saints and angels coming to carry us home. This is why we Catholics say the Hail Mary prayer so much. The hour of our death is when Satan will come one last time to tempt us to unbelief, because he knows this is his last chance and our weakest hour. But we who always ask Mary to come to us then have nothing to fear from this last hour.
Paying the Tax on a Huge Bill
An old saying is that Jesus paid the bill for our sins, but we still have to pay the tax. The meaning of this expression is that, for sure, Jesus’ one-time sacrifice on the cross was the complete ransom for our sins. BUT, the reason that we still suffer in this world is that the Body of Christ (we, the Church) also has to suffer with our Lord and Savior on our cross. What was good for our Master is good for us. We don’t get physically crucified any more, but Colossians 1:24 says the following:
“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.”
Here, St. Paul is telling us that his sufferings, when united to those of Christ’s on the cross, are total payment of the ransom: the sufferings of His Body, the Church, united with the sufferings of its head, namely, Jesus. At each and every Mass, the one-time sacrifice of Jesus (the head) is united with the sufferings of His people in the Church (the body) and offered to God, our loving Father, in atonement for our sins. Everything we do during the week that is sacrificial is offered to God the Father in unison with the Eucharist.
This is why suffering is so necessary to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We may not like it, but the fact of the matter is that when there is no suffering, there is no cross; when there is no cross, there is no Jesus. And when there is no Jesus, there is no Kingdom of Heaven.
So when the tax bill comes due – namely, our suffering in Christ’s name – we must pay it through patient endurance like He did on the cross. Even though the original bill has been paid in full by Jesus, the tax must be also be paid in full to complete our union with God the Father. And thanks be to God, the tax is ALWAYS a small percentage of the total bill.
Think of our tax payment of suffering as to the IHS instead of the IRS, which will make the payment much easier!
Priming the Pump
In the days of my grandparents, who lived during the Great Depression, getting water from a well required priming the pump. This action was because the inner workings of the pump were not airtight. Priming the pump meant pouring a little water into the pump to eliminate the surrounding air so the pump would work correctly. Afterward, the abundant water from the well flowed smoothly into the bucket. A similar concept works in investing money; to make a lot of money, you have to prime the pump by investing a little money first. The idea is also true in families. If you want a lot of love from your family, you first have to love them and show them that you love them. Then, the return you get on your love is a thousand-fold.
Spiritually, the analogy here means that if we want the living water from the Holy Spirit to flow into our bodies, then we have to prime the pump by first asking God to give us a clean heart and spirit, as Psalm 51:10 says:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.”
Then, once we are all cleaned up on the inside, the power of the Holy Spirit can flow through us and make us spiritual powerhouses like St. Paul after Damascus and St. Peter after Pentecost. Priming our spiritual pumps by cleaning up our impure lives is the first step in this process. The Holy Spirit is already living in us, which is why we breathe and live, but He can really change us into modern-day apostles if we prime our spiritual pumps through holy living.
One of the best ways I know to initiate this soul-cleansing process is to develop a very strong devotion to the Holy Mother, the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. Once the Spirit sees that you love His bride through prayer, consecration, and devotion, He will very willingly flow into you to make you holy.
Making a Diamond
When God makes a diamond, the process first starts out with a lump of very black coal. This lump sits under the earth under a great amount of pressure, turning crystalline over eons of time. Eventually, the coal is dug up by a miner, taken to a factory, ground down into facets, polished up, and then placed under a very bright light on a dark background for all of the world to see.
We are like that diamond. For the longest time, we sit like an earthly lump of flesh, dark in our sins. No one takes particular notice of us, and the pressures of life such as bills, job struggles, and family all take their toll. Because of misery and suffering, most of us eventually turn to Jesus, who then turns our black sins into His pure crystalline nature. He digs us out of our misery with the forgiveness and love of the sacraments, all the while grinding our sins away into nothingness. He polishes us up with His Word and His grace, and then His light shines through us, contrasting us with the very dark background of “the world.” Eventually, we will shine like diamonds in the world, thanks to a lot of suffering and pain and His renewal process. But, in the end, if we submit to His will totally, we will be God’s luminaries in the heavens. Shining these days isn’t so hard, as the world is getting VERY dark.
St. John Vianney once said that we have more to suffer from giving in to the world than by following Jesus, and in my personal experience, I have found these words to be VERY true! So, BE A DIAMOND!
Farming During a Drought
I grew up on a farm, and I can tell you first hand that trying to earn a living through farming and ranching when it just doesn’t rain in any appreciable amount for years is really tough. It’s hard on the pocketbook, it’s hard on the psyche, and it’s hard on the land. In the Bible, numerous droughts occurred, which God brought on to the land to test His people.
Alternate water has to be discovered (irrigation). Alternate fields have to be located (leasing pasture land for cattle far from where you live). Alternate work has to be found (going to work in town). My family did all of these things to survive. So when your prayers don’t seem to be answered by Almighty God, a spiritual drought must be addressed.
First, alternate water. The old daily rote prayers need to be replaced with heartfelt meditation on the mysteries of Christ. Here, the Rosary is the obvious answer. Meditation on the Bible mysteries in the daily Rosary is the absolute best way to drench our dry prayer life with the living water of the Holy Spirit.
Second, alternate fields. Going to daily Mass instead of staying home and cursing the clouds and fate is the best way to provide spiritual grazing for your prayer life.
Third, alternate work. Farm work that cannot be done due to a lack of rain must be replaced by doing the work of God. Volunteering to aid the poor, helping out at the soup kitchen, and teaching kids CCD are all ways of doing the work of God while the farm lies untilled.
The Secret
The secret here is to realize that all “Acts of God” like droughts are not just random events of fate, but, rather, are tests sent to us by God to test us, to strengthen us, and to purify us. Using profanity to curse bad things sent by God makes the devil very happy. Accepting these things as God’s will and doing His will as a result makes God very happy. So, clean up your act, ask Jesus through Mary to take over your life, and you’ll definitely come out on top!
More analogies here.
