Once again Father Ignatius was taking the Catechism class at the local Catholic school. The fifteen year olds were often quite challenging and their questions certainly merited careful consideration and were always answered honestly; no matter the subject under discussion.
This particular day was known by the class as “Free Day”. They could ask the priest any question on any subject and he attempted his best to answer them.
A cheeky young lady put her hand up eagerly and Father Ignatius motioned her to speak up.
“It must be difficult being a priest Father,” she started hesitantly, “I mean … you can’t do what you want. You can’t go on a date like …”
The whole class laughed.
Another girl sitting next to her chirped in “Or go in the woods in the park with your girl friend”.
“Oooohhh!!!” said some girls.
“That’s right,” interrupted a boy, “priests can’t go riding motorbikes fast, or have tattoos and all these things we do. They always have to be saintly and walk around like angels.”
Father Ignatius remained silent and tapped the ruler gently on the desk to attract their attention and get them to settle down.
He then said, “A man goes to the doctor's and complained that his whole body hurts wherever he touches it.
"The doctor frowns and replies ‘That is not possible! Show me.’
“The man pushed gently his left shoulder with his finger and then screamed in agony. He then pressed on his elbow with his finger and cried even more in terrible pain. He touched his knee and cried even louder. And then again he touched his ankle and the pain was just as excruciating.
“Everywhere he touched made him cry in great pain. ‘It hurts all over, doctor,’ he said, ‘is it serious?’
“The doctor replied, ‘Not really, your finger is broken.’ ”
The whole class laughed in unison.
Father Ignatius waited until they’d settled down and then continued in his gentle voice.
“Sometimes we get too fixated on the wrong things. Just like the man in the joke.
”That’s when we fail to focus on the right priorities in life. We allow our outlook and our earthly vision to be blurred by the many distractions which this world has to offer.
”Life becomes a series of goals set, targets to be met and achievements aimed for. And we miss the obvious point.
”Set your hearts on the things that are in Heaven, where Christ sits on His throne at the right-hand side of God. Keep your minds fixed on things there, not on things here on earth.”
”That’s when we fail to focus on the right priorities in life. We allow our outlook and our earthly vision to be blurred by the many distractions which this world has to offer.
”Life becomes a series of goals set, targets to be met and achievements aimed for. And we miss the obvious point.
”Set your hearts on the things that are in Heaven, where Christ sits on His throne at the right-hand side of God. Keep your minds fixed on things there, not on things here on earth.”
Colossians 3:1-2.
