Superman
This Sunday we begin the season of Advent. It has often been a season when I have encouraged others to slow down, to pray more, to do less so as to have more time for Christ. I also have a solid history of using Advent as a time to schedule myself with so many things that by the time Christmas rolls around I am completely exhausted. I like to call it the superman complex. It usually works this way. I exhort the people in my spiritual care to do the things that all of us ought to do in order to prepare for this season of Christ’s birth, and then see myself as exempt from following my own advice. It always seems like it would be great to be able to set aside more time for prayer and preparation for Christmas, but how could I possibly do that? I am too important to be able to make that sort of time, even though I would like nothing more.
Yesterday I was speaking to a friend who mentioned how it seems to her that every priest she knows expresses a clear dislike for the number of penance services that they participate in during the seasons of Advent and Lent. I can’t speak for other priests, but for me this has certainly been true in the past. Don’t get me wrong, I am not in the least bit against having many opportunities for the celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation. I wish more people would take advantage of the opportunity for the growth this sacrament provides. What is bothersome is the way my brother priests and I have structured the opportunities for the reception of the sacrament. We continue to follow practices that were begun when there were greater numbers of priests and then when we are overwhelmed by the amount of work these structures necessitate, our response is often quiet resentment.
Fr. David, who is my current partner in ministry, and I spend a good amount of time talking about what can be done to adopt models of priesthood that will allow us to continue to faithfully work for the people we have been sent to serve, but will also lead us towards more healthy lifestyles. All too often I have found myself caught up in models of priesthood that allow me to make myself out to be more than what I am. All too often I have found myself stretching myself beyond my limits because I want to be Superman.
Christ does expect us to be people of service. He does not, however, ask any of us to take the role of the Messiah. He has sufficiently filled that role and we can continue to rely upon Him to make up for the weaknesses we possess. My own goal for this Advent is to follow my own advice. I want to slow down. I want to pray more. I want to do less of the ordinary things so as to make more room for Christ’s birth. When He knocks on my door, I don’t want to respond with resentment that there is no room in the inn.
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