The most deadly poison of our time is indifference.

by Fr. Gabriel Terrill  |  09/07/2024  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Friends,

This is a famous quote from one of the Church’s great modern saints, Maximilian Kolbe; a Franciscan priest who lived his life leading others to Christ and gave his life at Auschwitz in order to save the life of another. We recently celebrated the feast of Saint Maximilian Kolbe and his call to recognize the poison of indifference is even more relevant today.

As connected and informed as we are, we live in a culture of inaction, complacency, and comfort. We fluff up a pillow and hunker down while pointing out what is wrong with the world and its inhabitants. I do not mean this as a generalization, but more as the cultural symptom that Saint Maximilian Kolbe identifies as indifference. It is easier now than ever before to carve out a space of complacency and comfort and recognize the problems, but never commit to help solve them.

There are, of course, many things that we cannot change. Violence, war, bigotry, poverty among other issues are universal problems that plague our fallen world. We can look at the big issues and become discouraged. We move into doom and despair before we even have a chance to respond to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who calls us into action. We recognize in faith that we are called to follow the Lord as disciples, and with this we are tasked with proclaiming the gospel, the good news of Our Lord’s passion, death, and resurrection. This takes many forms in word and action, and each and every one of us is called uniquely to devote our efforts towards building up the Kingdom of God on earth. However, in order to effect change and proclaim the gospel, we must commit ourselves to giving of our time.

It is so easy to procrastinate, to wait for the perfect time to do something. I know because I am a serial procrastinator and a perfectionist. It is a common temptation for me to wait for the right time or for something to be easier. The truth is; however, the perfect time will never come. Things will never get less “busy,” and life will never slow down. Again, we are uniquely called into discipleship, and to proclaim the gospel, but we need to commit ourselves to actually doing it. This means being good stewards of our time. This means sacrificing time we might use in other ways to make of ourselves a gift to others and to the world for the sake of the kingdom.

We can always justify that we do not have time or that someone else will do it, but we also recognize that our time on this earth is not forever. Through discernment of the Holy Spirit and in recognizing the needs of our community and the ways in which we can affect the world, we hear the call to discipleship and an invitation to commit our time and energy to the mission of the Church.

We hear from Paul on this matter in the letter to the Ephesians as he says:

Watch carefully then how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not continue in ignorance, but try to understand what is the will of the Lord. And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another [in] psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.
— Ephesians 5: 15-20

Paul warns us against procrastination and spiritual indifference and encourages us to live each day as a gift by making use of our talents and our time in order to better serve in the Church and live a life of holiness; not tomorrow, but here and now. Therefore, I encourage us to respond to the call to action and commitment in being good stewards of our time, both in making more time for the Lord in our lives through prayer and the sacraments, but also in committing ourselves to being involved in our parish community beyond Sunday mass attendance. In doing so we are challenged to not give in to what we might spiritual procrastination or indifference, and instead actively engage with the living mission of Christ’s bride the Church, here and now.

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