The CRAZIEST of catechetical days today… I am my own worst enemy, scheduling a first communion class at the prep school round the corner, followed by a Confirmation session for candidates at Gloucester Road on prayer, followed by the first Mystagogia session back in the parish (about which, more to follow)… Never again! I was already tired after a busy weekend – a Confirmation evangelisation retreat for 200 candidates on Saturday, and our own Confirmation Mass on Sunday.
On days like this, the importance of the interior life hits me. St Bernard of Clairvaux warned that to be really effective in the apostolic life we need to be more like reservoirs than canals, i.e. full to the brim with water before pouring anything out, rather than simply a channel for water:
“We should seek to become reservoirs rather than canals. For a canal just allows the water to flow through it, but a reservoir waits until it is filled before overflowing, then it can communicate without loss to itself. In the church today, we have many canals but few reservoirs.”
Hmm… Packing your diary too full can be more of a recipe for being a “canal catechist” than a reservoir one…
