Powdered Christian

24th Sunday Ordinary Time, Year B


“The Russian comedian Yakov Smirnoff, when he first came to the United States, was not prepared for the incredible variety of instant products available in American grocery stores. He says, "On my first shopping trip, I saw powdered milk- you just add water, and you get milk. Then I saw powdered orange juice - you just add water, and you get orange juice. And then I saw baby powder, and I thought to myself, “What a country! You just add water, and you get a baby!"

Smirnoff is joking, of course, but when it comes to Christian transformation, many of us believe that there is such a thing as powdered Christian! Just add water and you get a disciple. That by going to Mass once, or praying or reading the bible when the fancy hits us, we will be instantly changed. Unfortunately, there is no such powder and disciples of Jesus Christ are not instantly born. Mature Christians are slowly raised through many trials, suffering, and temptations. A study has found that only 11 percent of churchgoing teenagers have a well-developed faith, rising to only 32 percent for churchgoing adults. Why? Many of us have to overcome our wrong belief of instant change in our lives. For a tree to become strong and mature, the seed has to fall to the ground and die and slowly take root and grow its trunk and branches to weather any storm, for us to become strong and mature Christians, we have to die to ourselves and slowly grow in the art of living, suffering, and even dying.

If we want to grow spiritually - to know Jesus more clearly, to love Him more dearly, to follow Him more closely and ultimately, to be like Him, to be Christlike, we have to beg God for that grace: to be brave and patient in the slow process of growing.

We have to remind ourselves, spiritual maturity is not automatic, growth does not happen instantly. It is a process and there are no shortcuts. It takes discipline and the going will be tough. But we have 12 men to show us the way, persons who took Jesus seriously. That is why we call them disciples, people who journeyed with Jesus through thick and thin.

To be an athlete, one must develop healthy habits if one desires to excel. So it is when one desires to be a Christian. We must develop Christlike habits.

Let me share with you a wonderful theory - the 21 Day Habit Theory.

"Dr Maxwell Maltz wrote the bestseller Psycho-Cybernetics. Originally a plastic surgeon, Maltz noticed that it took 21 days for amputees to cease feeling phantom sensations in the amputated limb. From further observations he found it took 21 days to create a new habit. Since then the '21 Day Habit Theory' has become an accepted part of self-help programs.
Brain circuits take engrams (memory traces), and produce neuroconnections and neuropathways only if they are bombarded for 21 days in a row. This means that our brain does not accept new data for a change of habit unless it is repeated each day for 21 days (without missing a day)."

With this in mind, I would like to invite everyone to seriously follow Christ by developing Christlike habits, by first of all, getting to know Jesus and falling in love with Him, and one way of doing this is by reading the Bible everyday. Let us make this a daily habit - bible reading and praying.

What I am proposing is a very simple plan for I would not want to burden you so please, when you go home, do not attempt to read the bible for 2 hours a day, not even for an hour a day. It is the equivalent of demanding a first time jogger to run 10 kilometers straight.

In the 24 hours we have in a day, where we probably spend 6-8 hours of that sleeping, another 6-8 hours for working, 2 hours for eating and resting, the rest for our personal interests, I would just like to invite you to read the bible for 7 minutes. Why 7 minutes? Because 5 minutes may be too short, and 10 minutes may be too long. 7 minutes a day, everyday, not 5 days out of 7, not 6 days out of 7 but 7 out of 7. Call it your daily 7-up! Out of the 24 hours a day, just allot 7 minutes. Out of the 168 hours a week, just allot 49 minutes. And if you will be able to read the bible 7 minutes a day for 7 days, in 3 weeks, you get t o develop a Christlike habit - reading the scriptures.

We can start with what we have heard today, the Gospel of Mark. Read, do not stop to study, to analyze, rather, enjoy reading, enjoy meeting a friend, whether an old one or a new acquaintance. Jesus would be very happy to set a date with you, no matter how short it may be, for it is a lot better than nothing.

Happy reading! And I know and trust, God will reward us with many more habits, that in the end we will have the most important Christ habit - loving.