“Running As Fast As Possible Into the Father’s Arms” - 08.14.22 (20th Sunday OT- C)

“Running As Fast As Possible Into the Father’s Arms”

By: Fr. David Schmidt

Regina Coeli Parish - Church of the Assumption - Bellevue, PA

Mass Readings - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081422.cfm

At the beginning of every race there’s an intensity that is felt at the beginning. There is a major build up leading to the starting gun. The runners’ hearts are pounding in their chest. Their muscles ready to explode off the blocks. Their nerves are in overload as the stakes are high for this big race. Then the official says, “On your mark, get set…bam!” The starting gun goes off, and the runners explode off the blocks and the race begins, and they are running as fast as possible to the finish line to attain the prize and stand on the podium and be recognized as the best. It’s a great feeling to cross that finish line in first place. The jubilation. The cheers from the crowd. The relief. You did it. You won. Go and receive your reward. 

This is pretty much how any race goes that we watch. No matter what level. However, when it comes to the race of life. The race to heaven. The race for the salvation of our souls. We often see something entirely different. 

We live in a world today that doesn’t believe that there is a true finish line in life. If there is a finish line then they believe it’s money, power, success, pleasure, or some other earthly idol.  

Instead of running the race of life with purpose, they walk. Instead of having the exciting build up at the beginning, they feel apathy. Instead of running to keep up with the other runners, they criticize them for running so fast asking them “what’s the point? Why are you running so fast? Slow down!” They might start to run, but think to themselves it’s not worth it, so they stop running. Some even leave the track not having any desire to finish the race. 

However, there are some, very few, who run the race the way it’s meant to be run. Which is to run it as fast as possible. They run it with the energy and vigor of the runners in the races that compete for gold.  These runners understand what is at stake. Our eternal salvation. They know what awaits them at the finish line. It is not a gold medal, or a fat check. They know that what awaits them at the finish line are the arms of our heavenly Father.

They run as fast as possible and when they reach the finish line they fall into the Father’s arms, into His loving embrace, and enter into eternal life.

Jesus says in the Gospels, ““I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!” Or in other words, He has come to set our hearts on fire to help us run this race of life, this race of our salvation, as fast as possible into the Father’s arms. We will either run the race the way its meant to be run, or we will lose our souls.

One question we might ask is: “How do I run this race? How do I run so fast?”

We run not by doing a bunch of things and doing them frantically. Running this race as fast as possible doesn’t mean the more devotions or penances we do the faster we go. What enables us to run as fast as possible is the intensity of our love. 

We increase the intensity of our love by allowing the Lord to set our hearts on fire with the blazing fire of His love, so that we are launched forward at a divine speed into His loving arms.

The hotter the flames, the greater the love, the faster one goes. It’s not allowing anything to get in the way, even those we love, of us running as fast as possible into His arms. 

The people who do this are the ones who keep their eyes on Christ. They are the ones who love Christ over and above everyone and everything in their lives. They spend time with the Lord each day in prayer. They receive the Sacraments and the Holy Eucharist. They surrender their hearts fully to the Lord. They have allowed themselves to be stripped of every burden and sin that clings to them thus allowing them to persevere in running the race. 

We don’t run this race in an empty stadium. But a stadium so large and packed that it is standing room only. It is a stadium that is more raucous then a NFL playoff game at Heinz Field, or a white out at Penn State or the Olympics or the Super Bowl. 

In this race we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, as we heard in our 2nd reading, and this great cloud of witnesses, or in other words, the saints, are going crazy in the stands, cheering us on, as they know what is at stake, having run the race themselves, and receiving the prize given at the end.

The saints intercede for us, they give us encouragement and strength as we run this race. They will do everything possible to help us run this race the way God is calling us too and to cross the finish line.

Many great saints have run this race throughout the centuries, but there is one runner who ran the race better than anyone to ever walk this earth- and that is Jesus Christ.

By running this race, Christ showed us what it looks like to run the race the way it’s meant to be run. He ran this race with incredible fire and intensity. A fire and intensity that created a deep yearning in His heart to receive the Baptism that He knew He must be baptized with, in order to bring about our salvation. He desired to receive this Baptism so much that it caused Him great anguish until He accomplished it.

Christ ran the race by running to the Cross. In the 2nd reading it says, “For the sake of the joy that lay before him he endured the cross, despising its shame, and has taken his seat at the right of the throne of God.” 

By running to the Cross, Christ ended up in the Father’s arms. By running to the Cross, He received the Baptism He knew He must be baptized with.

Christ knew the joy of running this race. He knew the joy that comes from enduring the Cross and persevering to the end. He knew the infinite treasures that awaited at the finish line and that would now be opened up for all of us to receive. He knew the importance of Him running the race and reaching the finish line first for us, so that we may not grow weary and lose heart as we run the race ourselves.

He ran the race and now sits at the right of the throne of God and helps us in every way to run this race so that we may be where He is in heaven before the throne of God.

In calling us to run the race He calls us not to run the race just for ourselves, but as we run, to encourage one another, so that we all may reach the finish line. We encourage each other by the witness of our love for God and love for one another. We help each other run as fast as possible. It’s inspiring to witness people who are so in love with God and take their faith seriously, and it makes us want to love God more like that person does. We help push each other to be better Christians. We help push each other to be the men and women that God is calling us to be.

God knows we are weak and imperfect in running this race, so He only asks us to try our best. As long as we are trying our best He will help us reach the finish line of our salvation. What He will not tolerate is our apathy and lack of care in running this race. He will not tolerate people discouraging others in running this race as fast as possible. 

In the Gospel it says that Christ did not come to establish peace but division. A division that separates a household of 5- 3 against 2 and 2 against 3. Son against father, mother against daughter, etc. What this passage means is that Christ is forcing us to make a decision. We are either going to follow Him with our whole heart or not. We are either going to choose Him or not choose Him. There is no in between. We can’t be apathetic when it comes to our eternal salvation and our decision to follow Christ. Some of us will choose Him and some will not.

So let us choose Christ. Let us not waste any time on the track by walking, but let us follow Him with our whole hearts. Let us continue to persevere through life’s ups and downs. Let us not allow ourselves to be discouraged by those in our lives who try to tell us to slow down. Let us not be tempted to slow down if we find that we are running faster than everyone else. Let us allow the Lord to set our hearts on fire with His love, so that we may run as fast as possible into the arms of the Father.

My encouragement for all of us today is: Don’t stop. Don’t slow down. Don’t look back. But run as fast as possible into the Father’s arms, so that we may experience the infinite depths of the fires of His love, and in crossing the finish line, we may receive our eternal reward.