By Nicolas Calandra
"Try to discover what the Lord wants of you, having nothing to do with the futile works of darkness but exposing them by contrast." ~ Ephesians 5:10-11
Here I would like to offer my own personal reflections on this passage, which you might find useful for your time of prayer now in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
Today has been a big day for the history of the seminary [the 100 year anniversary], but here I would like to focus our attention on another history. It is not a history of countries, or cities, or big events. It is not a history written in pen and ink, or captured by photos and made public on websites. But it is the history upon which all human history depends: I speak of that story that God writes on the human heart - God's grace; our cooperation.
Each of us have experienced the action of God in our life. Or else we wouldn't be here! But the story is not over; how it ends, uncertain. Will we walk in the footsteps of many seminarians who have gone before? That seminarian, John Vianney, who would become the holy pastor of Ars; Or Oscar Romero, the shy personality who would one day be a martyr killed for speaking against injustice; or Francis Xavier, who planted the faith in Japan. These were men, who as seminarians, would have attended daily Mass, prayed the breviary, and done silent meditation each day, just like we do here.
Yet others have gone through seminary formation in the past and have not ended up like these heroic witnesses; some living mediocre or even scandalous lives that have desecrated in our world's mind the splendor of the priesthood. The difference is in whether we say "yes" to God each day in that lifetime work of conversion.
In the Second Reading of today's Mass, St. Paul exhorts us, "Try to discover what the Lord wants of you, having nothing to do with the futile works of darkness but exposing them by contrast." It's a powerful call to unity of life - being transparent. We should say, here and now in our prayer, "Lord, what do you want from me? What do you want me to change?" Do not be afraid, Christ tells us. We should not be scared of asking God to guide us. Maybe he wants me to work on being more charitable in my conversations, or maybe I waste the time for studying with too much YouTube; maybe I watch shows that later distract my mind with bad thoughts; maybe I'm not sincere in spiritual direction and confession because I'm scared that the priest will know my faults, maybe someone wronged me and I am still nursing a bit of hatred. Lord, you know us. Deliver us from the fear of changing. Help us to be honest, sincere, and humble. "Hav[e] nothing to do with the futile works of darkness but exposing them by contrast." If we invite you, Lord, into our lives, you will bit by bit transform our lives into a living testimony to the truth of the Gospel. God wants to write this history... will we let Him?