The Gospel of Mark, chapter 1:4

The other day, a young man in his early twenties came over to talk to me in one of our local restaurants. In the course of the conversation, he told me that he was raised a Catholic but he was not a practicing one. I asked him what was the matter? He said he still believed in the Church “deep down”, but that he had been through “so much” that he couldn’t give up those things that were now doing him harm. He loved God in some vague way but he couldn’t “let go of the world”. I told him he didn’t have to renounce the world since it is God’s world. God created it. What he needed to do, I pointed out, was to strike a balance between the things of this world and the things of the spirit; he needed to reform his life in order to enjoy the good things of the world. This is, I told him, the good news of the gospel. He then said he thought he should make a retreat. I agreed.

I have thought of that young man again, after reflecting on today’s gospel about reforming our lives and believing in the good news. The young man was searching for meaning in his life. Why couldn’t he accept the meaning of the gospel of Christ? Surely that would have taken care of his problem. But is it that simple?

It is not that simple because in today’s culture we have almost come to the point where we say it is natural for young people in their late teens and twenties to lose interest in their families and in their religion. They put away “the things of childhood”, so to speak, in order to become adults. But are they really putting away “the things, of childhood”?

Most young people look for ways to identify with other people who will make them “cool”, so they think. They find this identity in “pop” stars, in sports teams, in taverns or in going steady long before they are capable of sustaining such a relationship. There isn’t much wrong with young people trying these avenues as long as they realize that these are not final answers to their search for identity. The pity is that many young people lose their own identity by taking on the identity of some unfortunate cult hero or heroine.

Today’s gospel offers a new and different kind of meaning to that afforded by the “pop” culture of our day. Christ proclaims the good news. We have the capacity to live this good news, to be everything that we should be, to live lives charged with meaning. Look at the Apostles! They were ordinary fishermen, or so they thought, until they found Christ, who gave them the power to become world leaders or “fishers of Men”.

True meaning comes from within. Like everything else, you have to work at it, by being prepared to reform your own life in order to become a true follower of Christ.

Fr. Hugh Duffy

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