Is your life sterile?

"Don't let your life be sterile. Be useful. Blaze a Trail. Shine forth with the light of your faith and of your love.  With your apostolic life wipe out the slimy and filthy mark left by the impure sowers of hatred.  And light up all the ways of the earth with the fire of Christ that you carry in your heart."  St. Josemaria Escriva from The Way (1)

Is your life sterile?  Are you making the most of this life?

I love Escriva's choice of the word "sterile."   To be sterile is to be lifeless.  So how can a person be lifeless while still being alive?  Technically a person can be outwardly alive, but inwardly dead. To Escriva the ultimate source of life is a person's soul; the unseen core, the part where the heart's truest desires reside.  When a person loses touch with this the person becomes like a walking zombie, sleepwalking through life, oblivious to reality. So are you a Zombie?

How many people do you know who basically go through the motions of life day in day out?   Unfortunately I know many people like that.  I can see it in their sunken faces. I can even hear it in their voices as they struggle to stay afloat.  Even worse I have seen the same "sterile" look in the eyes of people who seem to have it all. 

How many people do you know who are content in wasting their time with pointless activities?  Such as watching endless TV,  going to endless events, checking their Facebook pages, gossiping, being lazy, feeling perpetually sorry for themselves. 

Let's face it our culture is filled with idols. Our culture worships the idols of sex, money, power, and prestige.  We are thought at an early age that if we don't possess them we are losers.  We are thought to strive, to become "somebody" all in the futile attempt to find meaning in this passing life.  The irony is that the more a person strives to be a "somebody"  in eyes of the world, the more that person becomes a "nobody" in the spiritual life.

The great news is the Christ doesn't care about all of this.  All he wants is our daily yes.  Once we give him this our lives will become "fertile" instead of "sterile."  Once we become fertile then we will begin to blaze a trail leading ourselves and others to heaven. 

So are you ready to begin blazing a trail?

Lord help me to make the most of my life.  Let my life be fertile.  Let your grace multiply in my life. Amen.