One of the virtues and qualities that we admire and appreciate as
human beings are faithfulness and fidelity.
There is a sense of admiration and quiet respect that is accorded to
people who have stuck with one job for their entire lives, and among the
unspoken qualities that these people carry are stability, dedication and
reliability. Dog lovers around the globe
share a deep appreciation of their dogs, citing very often that among the great
qualities of dogs are their undying loyalty and faithfulness to their
masters. I have personally known of
employers of domestic helpers who have had the same helper in their home for
over twenty years, and amongst other qualities, trust and faith in the person
had been praised and appreciated in the helper.
In one particular case, the helper became so much a part of the family
that she became the Godmother of one of the children when he was confirmed in
the Sacrament of Confirmation at the age of 15.
Loyalty had been in this case so well received.
Fidelity and faithfulness cannot be bought but have to be earned. Like anything organic, they do not manifest themselves
overnight. They need to be desired from
the beginning, with great intention, and as time passes, they slowly take root
and begin building upward. These very
same qualities so easily admired and appreciated in the social and professional
life should be just as easily admired and appreciated in our faith life.
When one is spoken of as being loyal, faithful and possessing a
sense of fidelity, especially in a marriage covenant, it is taken to mean that one
has been unstinting and unwavering in living out the vows one had taken with a
deep sense of seriousness. It’s the
living out of the lyrics of the song “Come what may”, the song from the musical
Moulin Rouge.
If this is what human beings appreciate in other human beings as
qualities of virtue, we can be quite certain that God too appreciates our acts
of fidelity and faithfulness to him.
Fidelity embraces the will to do something and to live out something no
matter what, and come what may. In marriage
vows, it is the staying in the marriage covenant “in good times and in bad, in
sickness and in health, for better or for worse, till death do you part”. This same sentiment has to be applied just as
assiduously and conscientiously in the living out of our practices of our faith
as Christians.
One of the things that I know many Catholics struggle with,
especially the millennials, is the weekly Sunday Mass. There are many who find it a great challenge
to find themselves in the church pews week in and week out, when so many of
their peers have far more engaging and ‘enjoyable’ ways of spending their
Sunday mornings – at cafes sipping their artisanal cappuccinos, lounging in
their pyjamas in front of the television, sleeping in after a tiring night out
drinking and partying with friends, or exercising at gyms or participating in some
sporting event. One thing that all of
the aforementioned activities share in common is that they satisfy and benefit
the self in a rather self-absorbed way.
But the choice one makes to be faithful to the obligation to the
weekly Mass often sees one making the choice to be self-less and
other-centered. Our presence at every
Mass strengthens the faith of our fellow brother and sister who is also at
Mass. One’s act of fidelity encourages
another’s call to faithfulness to God.
One thing for sure is that when the choice to come to Mass is a
deliberate one, where one has willed oneself to do something because it needs
to be done, its value in terms of fidelity is increased exponentially. Even if one doesn’t feel like it, and one
does it regardless of the sentiments and feelings, one is building up the
foundations of what constitutes fidelity and loyalty.
Perhaps the biggest thing that bedevils so many of the millennials
in the practice of their faith is that the underlying unspoken narrative that
so many of them fall prey to is to only do things that serve themselves and put
them and their needs first. It doesn’t
sit well with the call to fidelity and faithfulness where there are things in
life that just should be done with a consistency that goes beyond how it
benefits the self.
Indeed, there are things that we ought to be doing, and with a
consistency and constancy that stands the test of time. Should I exercise regularly even if the couch
and television look far more appealing?
If I truly believe that the long-term benefits will serve me well, I will
just do it. Should I pray even if I
don’t feel like it? If I believe with
all my heart that I should, I will myself to just do it. Should I go to Mass even if I don’t find that
it interests me and my mind is running all over the place? I believe that I should, and so I just do
it.
There is a well-known sporting giant that may have something deeper
in their slogan than meets the eye.
Their well-known slogan is “Just do it”.
We will do well to apply this just as diligently to the practice of our
faith. It builds fidelity and
faithfulness in more ways than we know.
Dear Father Luke, hope you are recovering well. Just heard about your hip surgery. You will be in my prayers. Loss of health or going through physical trauma could be wake up calls for action. My sister in law collasped in the office with a brain aneurysm in June this year. I resorted to prayer as I was in shock and helpless to do anything for her. Miraculously she has fully recovered. So....wake up call possibly to me to boost my own prayer life...in Novena there is a prayer for the sick and it ends 'if it is Your will, may they get better'...when my sister in law was recovering I went to Novena to pray for her...somehow this incident has 'woken me up' to do something for my own faith. Just do it. But sometimes we are weak and lazy...haha...the hazards of being human...
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