1 Sm 1:1-8 / Mk 1:14-20
We know what failure feels like; we know what it’s like to look across many days, and perhaps many years, and to say that, despite our best efforts, what was supposed to happen didn’t happen.
We can leave it at that, and let our hearts and our lives spiral slowly downward, or we can ask some tougher questions. First of all, have we in fact fallen short? Sometimes the fact is that we have indeed made a mess of things. And when we finally admit that, we can ask for forgiveness and begin to reconstruct our life and our life’s work.
The next questions are a bit more tricky, because they focus on the fact that we may have been fabulous on the effort and energy scale, but simultaneously may have failed to be clear about our larger purpose. Did we have a vision, or did we just keep running?
In today’s gospel, Jesus says, “Come after me, walk with me.” He’s offering us an opportunity to break out of our own narrow agendas and our mindless routines, and to find a larger purpose. If we accept His invitation, there will be no bitterness in us, none of the sadness of the failed, barren life, even if we’ve made mistakes. We’ll know inside that we are part of a larger purpose, and that in our own way, we are playing our part.
