Pastoral Reflection
FRUITFUL OR PRODUCTIVE?
"Yes," said Joel, "I'm hooked on productivity. I run a
business, and my wife and i have three young children. I have to
produce and my employees have to produce if we're to accomplish
anything. My days are jam-packed. If there's any time left
over I spend it with my family." Joel's thinking on productivity
received a shake-up at a men's retreat. The retreat leader asked
a question. "When you think of Jesus, do you think of him with a
daily to-do list? (Three people healed today. Two fast
comebacks to the scribes and Pharisees. One really great parable
told. Oh yes, and dinner for 5,000. And I got the disciples to
distribute the leftovers. A very good day. Well done, me)."
Joel listened intently. "Jesus spoke wisely and constantly
extended mercy and grace. He might now and then retreat from the
crowds, yet when he was with people, he was really with them. He
saw needs that others could not see. He loved people well.
But was he productive? Productivity can become a mind-set
of constantly moving forward. Being busy, not at times and in
moderation, but as a lifestyle. Productivity seeks what
fruitfulness claims as its starting point-- the assurance of God's
presence and love." Fruitfulness, Joel saw, allows you to be
fully present in the moment. Fruitfulness requires a fundamental trust
in the Holy Spirit, like compost around the roots of the fig tree in
today's Gospel. The Spirit is working at all times and in all
places and, if we allow it, is at work in us -- busy or not.
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