No Participation Trophies

Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

    There was a theory within the past decade that making everyone feel like they’re a winner would be beneficial to society in general.  It led to the proliferation of “participation trophies.”  The drive certainly comes from the lived experience that most people have had that it feels good when you win, and it doesn’t feel good when you lose.  And there can be a general sort of understanding that feel bad is bad, while feeling good is good.  This theory sought to alleviate the pain and suffering that kids (and also adults) feel when they’re not the best at something.
    If that theory were put into the Gospel today, Jesus would have said to Martha, “Martha, you’re anxious and worried about many things.  But your service to me is good.  Still, Mary’s decision to sit at my feet and listen to my teachings is also good.  So you’re both winners, each in your own way.”  But, of course, Jesus doesn’t say that.  Jesus says, “‘Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.’”  Jesus commits the unforgivable sin in modern culture: He discriminates.  He chooses one over the other.  How very un-woke of Him!
    We can chuckle about taking the participation trophy theory to its logical conclusion, but we should struggle a bit with the Gospel.  Jesus is choosing winners and losers, better and worse.  Not every gets a pat on the back or an ‘atta boy.  Martha follows the customary rules of hospitality: make sure the guest is comfortable and has everything he needs.  But the Divine Guest doesn’t chastise Martha’s sister Mary, like she wants.  He actually applauds her for ignoring her hospitable duties and choosing to listen to the Lord instead.
    St. Thomas Aquinas, following Pope St. Gregory the Great, sees in Martha and Mary a metaphor for the active life (as seen in Martha) and the contemplative life (as seen in Mary).  And, following the Gospel we heard today, St. Thomas affirms that the contemplative life is a higher life inasmuch as it reflects the heavenly life better (he actually lists nine reasons for why the contemplative life is better than the active life, but they mostly boil down to the same reason).  In heaven, we will simply contemplate God.  And the contemplative life puts aside the worries of the present age.  Most contemplatives take vows of poverty (so that they are not anxious about money), chastity (so they they are not preoccupied with sex), and obedience ( so that they do not focus on their own will).  This life also reflects the life that Jesus lived most closely, as Jesus had no real money of His own (Judas kept the funds for the apostolic band), never married, and always did the will of His Father.  
    So, in this system, we’re the losers.  And yes, I include myself.  Because while I promised celibacy in imitation of the Lord, and while I promised obedience to my bishop and his successors, I do have my own bank account.  And I make a lot of decisions on my own.  Diocesan priests are not part of the contemplative life, though hopefully they do contemplate.  
    But the active life is still good.  And St. Thomas notes this as well.  To take care of physical needs is part and parcel of the active life, and is a means of serving God.  Imagine that contemplatives had no one to support their heavenly life by working for food, shelter, and clothing.  Yes, our Lord fasted a lot, but He did have to eat because He was human.  Just because the contemplative life is a higher form of life, does not mean that the active life is sinful.  Each has its place in the life of the Church, and neither should be jealous of the other, which is the trap into which Martha falls in the Gospel, and the main reason for our Lord’s chastisement of her.

    Of course, St. Thomas, as a good Dominican, would note that the Order of Preachers, the Dominicans, combine both the active and contemplative life, so it’s really the best of both worlds.  And, really, every person, even those in active life like husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, are called to contemplation, not just the cloistered religious.  Contemplation looks different for those who are more active in the world, but we all need time where we set aside the cares and concerns of daily life to focus on our relationship with God.  That might be 10 minutes of silent prayer after the kids have finally fallen asleep.  That might mean waking up 10 minutes earlier to read Scripture  or a daily devotional writing (meditation) and then reflect on what God is saying you to in silence (contemplation).  Sometimes it might mean sending the kids to grandma and grandpa’s house for a weekend so that you can attend a retreat.  But all are called to take time to focus most directly on God, rather than all the cares of daily life that so often scream for attention.
    When it comes to life, there are higher and lower forms of life when looking at the objective facts of what life most mimics Jesus’ life and the life of heaven.  But God calls each of us subjectively to holiness, and for many of us the way we can become saints is through the active life.  The key is that we strive to follow God’s will for how He wants us to be saints, and that, even in active life, we regularly set aside time to put the cares of the world aside and focus on loving God and waiting in silence to hear His voice.  If we do that; if we contemplate as best as we can, then we will win the trophy of eternal life and not just participate in the competition, but storm heaven by our heroic response to God’s love and grace that He showers upon all His children. 

The Victory of Christ

Low Sunday
    In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  While it has waned a bit, there was a bit of a hubbub in years past about participation trophies.  I think it’s good to promote participation in competitions, to encourage people to reap the benefits of such competitions.  But in any competition there is a winner and a loser.  I myself have been a loser many a time (some may still think I am!).  When taken to its logical conclusion, few really want to eliminate winners, though.  Imagine the Michigan fight song in a woke context without winners: “Hail to the Participants, valiant!” doesn’t quite do it.
    St. John talks about victory on this Divine Mercy Sunday, also called Low Sunday (contrasting it with last week’s High Sunday), also called Dominica in Albis or White Sunday due to the baptized wearing their white robes.  When it comes to salvation and God, there is a victor.  God is victorious.  And we, St. John says, can participate in that victory.  We can overcome the world.

Icon from the place of the Resurrection

    How are we victorious?  We are born of God; we have faith that Jesus is the Son of God.  That is victory.  Sounds good, at face value.  Who doesn’t want to overcome the world?  But that victory does not look like the victories that we are used to seeing, for example in battle or in sports.  When we think of those victories, we think of the utter destruction of the enemy, or the super amount of points of one team over another.
    But while we do talk about the victory of Christ over Satan and all that is fallen in such ways (one Orthodox chant I remember for Easter says something to the effect of: Christ has risen from the dead, trampling death underfoot), Christ is not a demeaning victor to those who opposed Him.  In fact, His victory seeks to gather His opponents onto His team, at least those who still have a choice (i.e., us).
    Christ on the cross does not say: “Crush them, Father!  Make them pay!”  He says, “Forgive them, Father, they know not what they do.”  To the Apostles, almost none of whom stood by Christ in His Passion, Christ doesn’t say: “You were not with me, so you are against me; depart from me, evildoers, into the pits of Hell!”  He says, “Peace be with you.”  And even when Thomas fails to believe when Christ appeared the first time, saying that he would only believe if he had physical proof, Christ loving rebukes Thomas, but starts by repeating his Easter greeting: “Peace be with you.”  
    Christ does destroy sin; utterly wastes it away.  But with sinners, He is patient, He is merciful.  Which is good news for us.  Because we are all sinners.  We all, even though baptized, switch sides when it seems convenient, to play for the enemy because it feels better and is easier.  When we choose to sin, we become traitors, Benedict Arnolds of our own day.  
    And so the victory of Christ until the end of time will not look like a military, March Madness, or Super Bowl victory.  It is not kill or be killed.  It is not lose and go home.  Christ constantly seeks to have His victory take deeper and deeper root in us, even if we stumble and fall.  St. Peter shows us that even if we deny Christ, we can still return to Him, and even be called to great responsibility as the fruit of great repentance and great love.
    So if we are looking for stupendous buildings as a sign of victory; or vast quantities of people becoming Catholic; or political power and clout, we may not see that victory, yet.  Christ is still victorious, and yet churches may close; many may abandon the faith; we may be politically oppressed and powerless to change laws and policies.  But Christ has still one.  And as long as we continue in faith in Christ, both in our personal trust and in holding fast to the truths of what Christ has taught through His Mystical Body the Church (this means both Scripture and the unchanging truths of the faith), then we will be victorious, and share in the spoils of the one true Victor: eternal life with Christ in heaven.
    But one day, Christ’s victory will take hold over all creation as He returns in glory.  On that day, of which no one knows the day nor the hour, all evil will be defeated; all those opposed to God will be sent to Hell to receive eternal punishment and damnation.  At the end of time, no matter how much power or prestige a person had; no matter what office a person held, any person who opposed the reign of the true king and set up his or her own reign will receive the fruit of a just judgment.  
    Because when it comes to eternal salvation, it is not enough that we simply participated in life.  Our decisions now have eternal consequences in what happens after our death.  Our choices for or against God confirm if we want to remain with God, thus being prepared for heaven, or if we reject God, thus being prepared for Hell.  Keep those white baptismal garments clean.  Wash them clean in the Blood of the Lamb when you have sinned by going to confession.  Stay on God’s winning team, and receive the prize for those who are victorious in Christ: eternal happiness in heaven, where he lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.  Amen.