Excellence

Saturday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time C-2

Entrance Antiphon Cf. Ps 85 (84):9 The Lord speaks of peace to his people and his holy ones and to those who turn to him.

Collect Stir up the will of your faithful, we pray, O Lord, that, striving more eagerly to bring your divine work to fruitful completion, they may receive in greater measure the healing remedies your kindness bestows. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Scripture today: Apocalypse 22:1-7; Psalm 94; Luke 21:34-36

Jesus said to his disciples, Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:34-36)

Excellence Most people would understand that there is a difference between pleasure and happiness, between enjoyment and joy. One can gain pleasure from something — such as a favourite drink, a particular conversation, or a form of recreation — while lacking real happiness. In fact, a person can proceed through life seeking and gaining various pleasures, and never gaining real happiness. At the same time, one can be happy while having few pleasures. I think of the ordinary, unselfish wife and mother of very moderate means in life who is truly happy, while not far from her, lives a person of great wealth who is unhappy. One can possess various enjoyments, while possessing little joy. Now, it is intriguing to notice that one of the sources of happiness in life is the attainment of excellence in one’s chosen activity. It could almost be said that in a certain sense excellence gives both pleasure and happiness. The jockey spends years of training in a self-denying regime of work in order to excel in his horseracing, and he succeeds. He attains excellence in it, and it gives him real happiness — even though there have been few “pleasures” for him along the road to success in his chosen profession. A youth begins music lessons in piano or violin, and discovers in himself a liking and a propensity for his instrument. He spends years of study and practice and becomes excellent at it — and his excellence in music brings a level of joy to his life. Success in one’s work through excellence in it is undoubtedly a source of human happiness, showing that we were born to work. We were made to work well, to do good work — the question being, then, what ought be our work in life? If we can discover what it is that we are drawn to do for our neighbour, and what our abilities suggest ought be our line of service, then a level of happiness will come if we serve with excellence in that chosen field. To serve our neighbour with the excellence that lies within our capacity, is a very important component of happiness in life. It is a question of degree, though. What gives most happiness?

The musician — Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, whoever — who attains excellence in his renditions and compositions will have served society well in his chosen field, and will have attained a level of happiness as a result. But of course, we know that there are excellent practitioners in this or that field who do have unhappy lives. Actors and actresses can commit suicide. They apply themselves to one field of “work” in life and attain excellence in it, but fail to do so in other — perhaps much more important — fields of “work” in life. A man senses that he is called to a life in politics and he devotes himself to it — but he neglects his family and perhaps his health too. He has neglected to work at one of the most important things of all in his life — his relationship with and service of his wife and children. This neglect and failure in excellence in something central to his life brings a greater unhappiness than the happiness which he has attained through his chosen work. Across the board, this pattern can apply — the musician, the artist, the medical professional, the teacher, the politician. It illustrates the point that while excellence in work brings a degree of happiness (and not just pleasure) in life, it is most important for happiness that a man devote himself to the most important things in life. His greatest happiness will come if he attains excellence in the most important things. What is the most important thing in life? The most important thing in life is what our Lord alludes to when asked what is the greatest of the commandments. He said that the first was that we love God with all our mind, heart and strength. The second was like it, that we love our neighbour as ourselves. So the “work” that above all we ought be dedicating ourselves to in life is the love of God and neighbour. We ought work every day to attain excellence in love. Our most important work in life is to excel in the love of God and neighbour. If we attain excellence in this we shall be truly happy. This is why the saint is the truly happy person, even though he will have had to suffer much — as did Christ himself.

In our Gospel today (Luke 21:34-36) our Lord warns us against being weighed down by dissipation. We must not be distracted and led astray from the pursuit of excellence. At the same time our pursuit ought be in the right areas of excellence, for life could come to its end suddenly. We must therefore be “always on the watch,” making sure that our path in giving our best is the right path, the path God has indicated. This is the will of God, St Paul writes, your sanctification. We must aim at sanctity, at the love of God in everything we do. We ought aim at excellence in love, depending on the grace of God for its attainment. This excellence in the love of God and neighbour is what ought inform all our efforts to serve others in daily work and career. The saint is the happiest person, the person of true joy. Let us aim at excellence in this sense.

(E.J.Tyler)

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