What it means to be a ‘contemplative-in-action’
July 21—16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings: Jer 23:1-6; Psalm 23, R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.; Eph 2:13-18; Gospel—Mark 6:30-34
This Sunday, we continue to reflect on mission. In this narrative, Jesus gives us three graces to pray for in our mission.One is the grace of balance between work and rest, or work-life balance. Two is to be sensitive to the needs of others. Three is, together with this empathy, the ability to respond to the needs of others.
In the early part of the pandemic, there was a lot of talk about work-life balance. After experiencing time at home with family due to the lockdown, people saw the need for and the value of a work-life balance.
Here the Lord reminds us of this balance: “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” (cf. Mark 6:30-34)St. Ignatius of Loyola referred to this as being a contemplative-in-action—not just the balance between work and rest, but an integration of a life of prayer and work, being a contemplative-in-action.
Being a contemplative-in-action is more than work-life balance. It is an integration of life, a life of holiness.
Jesus himself exemplified this. We saw how often he went off by himself to a deserted place to pray, to be one with his Father.He contemplated his Father, seeking confirmation that he was doing his will, living out his mission according to his Father’s will and plan.
This is truly being a contemplative-in-action, total fidelity to mission, to the Father’s will.
Sensitivity
The second quality of mission is sensitivity to the needs of others. Referring to Frederick Buenchner’s definition of mission or vocation—the place where our deep gladness and a deep hunger of the world meet—it is to be sensitive to this hunger, the hunger to which our deep gladness responds.
In this narrative, we saw how Jesus was moved by the needs of others, the hunger of the people who sought him, the crowds that followed him.
“When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd and he began to teach them many things.”
Contemplate this scene, Jesus wanting to bring his disciples to a deserted place to rest and quiet down. And when they got there they were met by a vast crowd, a crowd whose needs, desires, hungers “moved” the Lord’s heart.
It was a moment of deep empathy. Have we experienced such a moment, when we are moved by the needs of others?
There is a story about the son of a diplomat who was assigned to India. He was a young boy then, and while traveling in India through the railway he literally stumbled upon a homeless person in the station.
The encounter left a deep impression on him. Being young, he did not identify it as an experience of empathy. The face, the eyes of the homeless person moved something in him interiorly.
Do good
He went on with his life, returned to the US, earned a degree and started his professional life. Years after, he went through depression and sought help through therapy. In one of his sessions, his therapist asked him if there was a moment when he felt most whole or most alive.
Then the train station incident came back to him. He said it was a moment when he felt deeply for the other person, and there was something in him that wanted to reach out to do good and to care.
This became the turning point of his therapy. In time he quit his job and started a nonprofit organization that eventually grew into one of the biggest nonprofit organizations serving the homeless.
He described that moment of empathy as a moment when “it was all there.” Perhaps, without his knowing as a young boy, it was moment of his call, God revealing to him his mission.
This the moment of empathy when our hearts are moved with pity—compassion, care and love for others, especially the last, the least, and the lost.
Years later—and this brings us to our third point—this moment of empathy moved him to action. He responds to the homeless person in the train station years later, almost three decades after, by starting his work for the homeless.
This is God’s mission, Christian mission—becoming contemplatives-in-action that enables our hearts to be moved by the hungers of others and inspires us to act, to dedicate our life’s work to them.
