Give a Little Whistle
In the popular Disney Film, Pinocchio, when the wooden puppet was given the gift of life, he was told by the Blue Fairy that in order to become a real boy, he would first need to prove himself to be brave, truthful, and unselfish. He had to learn to choose between what is right and what is wrong. And to do this, he was given a conscience, who told him to simply call upon his name or whistle whenever he ran into temptation.
Just like Pinocchio, I suppose for all of us, myself included, we too have been put on this earth with a mission to become that real person that we have been created to be. We too are called to strive to always choose the straight and narrow path, to be brave, truthful, and not to be selfish, even when it is difficult to do so. We too are called to discern between right and wrong. And we too, have the gift of a conscience, the Holy Spirit, which we receive at our baptism, where God gives us new life as his beloved children. And just like Pinocchio, we too will run into temptation during our journey towards the new and eternal Jerusalem.
This is especially so during this season of Lent, where we will definitely face the temptation to give up on our Lenten Observances, to choose to serve our own apparent needs rather than the real needs of others, or to not stick to our daily prayers. These temptations may seem trivial, and they may be, but they too, can be the small problems that may snowball into an even bigger problem, just like when Pinocchio chose not to go to school and ended up being kidnapped by the circus, or like when he chose to go to pleasure island and ended up having a donkey's tail. And they too, can be like the lies that kept growing on Pinocchio's nose.
Jesus too was not exempt from experiencing temptation in his time on earth. In last Sunday's gospel, he was tempted to break his fast, to abandon his loyalty to the Father, and even to put his Father to the test. And even on his journey to the Cross, I think he probably was tempted to give up as well, when he fell beneath the weight of the cross, was mocked and abused by the soldiers, and ridiculed by the chief priests and elders. He could have easily chosen to serve his own apparent needs, rather than to give the world that one message of true love. He could have chosen the selfish path, rather than dying to himself.
But here's the reason why unlike Jesus, Pinocchio often ran into trouble: he did not call upon his conscience for help. And even when his conscience showed up to try to guide him along the right path, Pinocchio chose to not heed the advice that was given, and he chose to serve his own desires for pleasure. However, despite Pinocchio's wrong choices, it was when he finally made the choice to sacrifice himself, to die to himself to save his Father, that he was found worthy of being a real boy. He had to make that choice to be brave, to be truthful, and to put others before himself. His conscience could not make this decision for him.
Isn't it the same for us? We too have the gift of free will. We too sometimes do not call upon the Holy Spirit, and even when the Spirit prompts us to do something that is right, we choose the path of pleasure, and this sometimes leads us into regret later on in life. We ultimately must be the ones to decide our course of action, even when the Holy Spirit prompts us to do what is right. We must be the ones to call upon the Holy Spirit for assistance, and to act upon what the Spirit prompts us to do. The spirit will never make the decision for us.
Pinocchio was triumphant at the end. He was able to become a real boy, the real person that he was meant to be, because of his choice to die to himself, to be brave, and to be truthful. We too, have the opportunity, in spite of our failings, to be triumphant at the end, to be the real person that we have been created to be when we reach the end of the broken road. However, this would require us to make that choice, the choice to call upon the Holy Spirit, to act upon what we are prompted by the Spirit to do, and the choice to die to ourselves. And even though we may stumble from time to time due to our human nature, the good news is that God remembers his covenant with us, and he is faithful, even when we are not. He is always with us. The Spirit is always with us. When we fall, we can still make the choice to call upon the Holy Spirit to help us up and to do the right thing to make amends.
As we continue on this journey of Lent, towards the great celebration of Easter, let us all, myself included, make that choice to call upon the Holy Spirit for assistance, especially in the midst of temptation, to listen to the Holy Spirit's promptings, and to die to ourselves so that others may also come to find true love in our God.
And always let your conscience be your guide...
Just like Pinocchio, I suppose for all of us, myself included, we too have been put on this earth with a mission to become that real person that we have been created to be. We too are called to strive to always choose the straight and narrow path, to be brave, truthful, and not to be selfish, even when it is difficult to do so. We too are called to discern between right and wrong. And we too, have the gift of a conscience, the Holy Spirit, which we receive at our baptism, where God gives us new life as his beloved children. And just like Pinocchio, we too will run into temptation during our journey towards the new and eternal Jerusalem.
This is especially so during this season of Lent, where we will definitely face the temptation to give up on our Lenten Observances, to choose to serve our own apparent needs rather than the real needs of others, or to not stick to our daily prayers. These temptations may seem trivial, and they may be, but they too, can be the small problems that may snowball into an even bigger problem, just like when Pinocchio chose not to go to school and ended up being kidnapped by the circus, or like when he chose to go to pleasure island and ended up having a donkey's tail. And they too, can be like the lies that kept growing on Pinocchio's nose.
Jesus too was not exempt from experiencing temptation in his time on earth. In last Sunday's gospel, he was tempted to break his fast, to abandon his loyalty to the Father, and even to put his Father to the test. And even on his journey to the Cross, I think he probably was tempted to give up as well, when he fell beneath the weight of the cross, was mocked and abused by the soldiers, and ridiculed by the chief priests and elders. He could have easily chosen to serve his own apparent needs, rather than to give the world that one message of true love. He could have chosen the selfish path, rather than dying to himself.
But here's the reason why unlike Jesus, Pinocchio often ran into trouble: he did not call upon his conscience for help. And even when his conscience showed up to try to guide him along the right path, Pinocchio chose to not heed the advice that was given, and he chose to serve his own desires for pleasure. However, despite Pinocchio's wrong choices, it was when he finally made the choice to sacrifice himself, to die to himself to save his Father, that he was found worthy of being a real boy. He had to make that choice to be brave, to be truthful, and to put others before himself. His conscience could not make this decision for him.
Isn't it the same for us? We too have the gift of free will. We too sometimes do not call upon the Holy Spirit, and even when the Spirit prompts us to do something that is right, we choose the path of pleasure, and this sometimes leads us into regret later on in life. We ultimately must be the ones to decide our course of action, even when the Holy Spirit prompts us to do what is right. We must be the ones to call upon the Holy Spirit for assistance, and to act upon what the Spirit prompts us to do. The spirit will never make the decision for us.
Pinocchio was triumphant at the end. He was able to become a real boy, the real person that he was meant to be, because of his choice to die to himself, to be brave, and to be truthful. We too, have the opportunity, in spite of our failings, to be triumphant at the end, to be the real person that we have been created to be when we reach the end of the broken road. However, this would require us to make that choice, the choice to call upon the Holy Spirit, to act upon what we are prompted by the Spirit to do, and the choice to die to ourselves. And even though we may stumble from time to time due to our human nature, the good news is that God remembers his covenant with us, and he is faithful, even when we are not. He is always with us. The Spirit is always with us. When we fall, we can still make the choice to call upon the Holy Spirit to help us up and to do the right thing to make amends.
As we continue on this journey of Lent, towards the great celebration of Easter, let us all, myself included, make that choice to call upon the Holy Spirit for assistance, especially in the midst of temptation, to listen to the Holy Spirit's promptings, and to die to ourselves so that others may also come to find true love in our God.
And always let your conscience be your guide...
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