Contemplative life in ordinary life

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

WHAT lesson can we learn from that rather amusing gospel episode of the two sisters, Martha and Mary, welcoming Christ to their home? (cfr. Lk 10,38-42) Martha was doing well in busying herself welcoming their special guest. But when she complained about her sister, Mary, who seemed to be doing nothing except to sit closely before Christ, she was roundly corrected.

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things,” Christ told her.  “There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

From these words of Christ, what we can gather is that Martha failed to turn her service as prayer. She was only interested in taking care of the practical aspects of her hospitality to Christ. She failed to turn her work into prayer.

Indeed, we have to learn how to convert everything in our life as an occasion and a means to pray, to have an encounter with God, to pursue our loving relation with him. This can only mean that we are meant to be contemplatives even and especially in the midst of our worldly concerns. And that’s simply because we are supposed to correspond God’s constant presence and intervention in our life.

This would mean that we have to learn how to be like Christ, the pattern of our humanity. He was always in union with the Father. Thus, we have to develop a strong desire to be with Christ and to identify ourselves with him. Let’s be like the first apostles who, upon discovering the “Lamb of God”, followed him and stayed with him. (cfr. Jn 1,35-39)

In this regard, we have to actively develop a life of piety that is nourished by appropriate practices like prayer, meditation, recourse to the sacraments, etc. Let’s see to it that we can really have a personal and intimate encounter with Christ, which is not an impossibility since, as Christ told his disciples, he will always be with us till the end of time. (cfr. Mt 28,20)

We have to learn to discern the presence of God in everything and the “quid divinum” (that divine substance) in everything that we handle and get involved in. This is not about fantasizing, but rather affirming a basic and objective reality about things in general. God is in everything.

We have to learn how to be recollected and to maintain some kind of silence even as we go through the hustle and bustle of our daily routine. We know that when we manage to be with God in everything, we will always experience joy and peace, we will always find meaning and great value in everything that happens in our life, whether good or bad as regarded in human terms.

This way, we would not get lost as to the real purpose of our life. Not only that, we would actively play our part in pursuing that purpose which, in the first place, is being handled primarily by God himself. Ours is simply to cooperate with him as far as we can.

To be sure, God is attentive to all the events and circumstances of our life, and would be most happy to see our correspondence to his undying love for us. Even the smallest detail of affection we give him in our daily work will never be lost in his attention.

In short, for us to be real contemplatives in our daily life, we need to habitually think about what God wants, about what would please him, etc.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com