There have been two stone masons, every doing the identical job. The primary, a melancholy man, was requested what he was doing. “I lay stones,” he replied, trying sullen. “Day-after-day, stones and mortar. No distinction from at some point to the subsequent. I lay stones, I receives a commission.” His was a dreary life.
His colleague was requested the identical query. His eyes brightened as he carried the subsequent stone and laid it upon the others he’d laid. “I’m constructing a cathedral!” he exclaimed.
The distinction between dwelling a spirituality of household and going by means of the tedious motions of labor and parenting is a imaginative and prescient of the massive image, the cathedral-building. To the extent that I can see the cleansing up, the doing chores, the driving youngsters round, the to-do lists, the time for household and in-laws, and so forth, because the stones in a cathedral, it’s straightforward to have a spirituality of household life.
The early Jesuits noticed themselves as contemplatives in action. (So did the early Franciscans and Dominicans, for that matter.) Their work on this planet was to “assist souls.” Dad and mom and spouses are equally invited to be contemplatives in motion, rooting themselves ever deeper within the lifetime of Christ in order that they could bear fruit within the joys and struggles of household life. Every household is a “home church,” a small instance of a spot the place two or three are gathered in Christ’s title to manifest Christ’s presence. We can also see our every day work as serving to souls—these of our quick and prolonged households, our faculties and communities.
Christ offers every member of the family a novel mission: to be a saint, constructing not solely a cathedral, however a palace through which will unfold the dominion of God. And that mission will unfold one diaper at a time, one act of forgiveness at a time, one chore at a time, one hectic day of balancing work and household at a time. No mission is simple; however the struggles that make its execution troublesome are additionally what make the mission wonderful. And the glory is all God’s. And the enjoyment that emerges, typically solely looking back, is all ours.
