The Rewards of Discipline

The past week's Gospel passages paint a stark picture of the consequences of following a worldly life.  Being thrown into the fire with the sounds of gnashing teeth, trying to pass through the eye of the needle,  and taking payment for work done in what seems unfair circumstances. Today we are presented with the image of being left at the door of heaven while assuming entry based on our own beliefs and way of life. It is a narrow gate that we must enter.

Let me paint another picture. Many of us have tried to enter a gate or door with bags in our hands, or carrying packages of luggage.  What becomes of the attempt? Bouncing of walls, sometimes falling, bruising ourselves as we try to squeeze through the gate. or door  I have such a gate that leads from the front to the back of my house. Taking our trash containers through the gate must be done carefully or a person ends up brushing against the stucco wall and sometimes scratching hands as the hands scrape against the wall drawing blood. It can be quite frustrating but with time you learn how to maneuver the containers to pass without incident.  The bags, luggage or in my case the garbage containers we carry through the gate is baggage that must be left behind if we are to follow the path to salvation. Leaving the baggage behind can be painful. Whether it be relationships that are no longer fruitful, addictions, habits that keep us in world of consumption, obsession with work and money, all of which have an ultimate price, our disconnection with God. Discipline gives us hope though.

Discipline is commonly thought of as a negative especially if we look at the Old English meaning which is mortification by scourging of oneself. I particularly gravitate towards the more intellectual derivative of the word, that from Latin, instruction and knowledge. The instruction in the various Gospel passages by Jesus and by Paul in his letters provides hope for those who follow the words of Christ, prophets, and New Testament writers. The larger question is how is this done in our secular world?  For many this is the challenge of discipline. Do I want to carve out time daily for prayer and reflection time or do I have to give up watching a television program, checking my social media accounts, e-mail or even five more minutes of work?  Over many years of wrong turns and mistakes I found that I needed discipline.  The time spent in spiritual reading, reflection and prayer allows me to disconnect from my worldly concerns and listen. It also has provided me a deeper knowledge of my Catholic faith which in itself is rich beyond comprehension.  The rewards of this allow me to live a life more peacefully than I ever thought possible. As Paul states in in Hebrews: 12:11 "all discipline seems a cause for not joy, but pain, yet later brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those trained by it."  Hardships by dropping the baggage as one tries to figure a way through the gate are part of the pain. Bloodied at times by the sacrifice of worldly ways can be disheartening, but the daily passage through the gate brings us closer to our eternal reward.