Since the end of July, I have been on a retreat with fellow men in Religious Life; we represent countries from all over the world. Somebody joked that Jonathan has come, once again, to win a  Gold Medal – a medal more valuable than those given out at the Olympics – one that wins us a place in heaven. This is the Gold Medal we should all be aiming to win.

‘People in and around the Olympic Games are commenting on something called the British ‘Feel Good Factor‘ – a rather strange and new phenomenon, spreading itself world-wide, and the first I heard of this was by way of an email, from a website that calls itself, ‘Hope, not Hate’. I like this website, because it is in favour of celebrating Britain’s diverse society, and there was a reference to the young Somali man, Mo Farah, the British Muslim who recently won the Olympic 10,000 metres race.

Mo Farah On His Way to Winning  the Olympics 10,000 metres

Only yesterday, an Italian friend said to me, jokingly, that he had read in the newspaper that something strange was happening in London: people were actually talking to each other on the tube, this week, during the Olympics! The same thing happened when Pope John Paul II came to Britain, in 1982, and again on Pope Benedict’s visit to Britain two years ago, in 2010. By contrast, I can well remember 1961 when working in London; there was a 20 minute delay in the South Electric train from Charing Cross to Blackheath, where I lived. On the train, we were crammed like ‘sardines in a tin’, elbow to elbow, almost cheek to cheek, and it was hot. Hardly anyone spoke for that 20 minutes! Many times, I have been on the underground in London, and the only ones speaking were the young Spanish, Italians or French, who were passengers at the same time.

My conclusion is, there must be something happening in Britain, London in particular, at this time.  I hope it continues, as it seems to me most inhuman not to communicate with ‘fellow man’, people ‘cheek-by-jowl’ in the same activity, for whatever reason. Could it be our British reserve? Could it be the weather? Or could it be our sense of individuality? I really don’t know the answer!

Meanwhile as this retreat goes on, I have learned something more about the Gold Medal of Life.

We, in Britain, can only admire our own Team GB, and those athletes who have done so well; at the same time, we know, and they know, that they have had to focus on getting to the top in their sport, avoiding anything that distracted them.  For years, it has been the ‘one thing’ in their lives.

The same is true for the Gold Medal of life. For us to be fully human, fully alive, fully love, fully united with God and each other, we must turn away from anything that is part of not loving, and focus positively on all that is loving. It can even mean turning away from the good things (like recalling the happy moments of life), if that conflicts with what we should be focussing on, at the time – like really listening to the person who is talking to me. Obviously, it also means turning away from sin and evil, and what is not God’s will.

Personally, I do not necessarily find this denial of self very easy, but I do my best to achieve it. Not to waste time before going to bed is always hard, and I have to make a big effort then, to focus on what I am meant to do. But then, the other thing is to accept the “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”, coupled with “the sea of the troubles of life”, as Shakespeare puts it. Each day, and often in each moment of the day, there are things we have to do which are difficult. Those are a part of life for everyone: for me, another example is getting up in the morning, or emptying the dishwasher… there are so many things, and this is being repeated every day, and every hour of the day.  Tackling these little things – minor though they are – is all part of our training for the ‘Gold Medals’ of our lives. For the rest of our training we must add those essentials such as living in faith, hope and love, and I have no doubt that then we shall be fit – fit to enter the race of our lives – and Jesus will meet us, help us to mount that heavenly podium and give us our medals, for we will be in Him.

Looking on will be Our Father in heaven, Mary our Mother, all the angels and saints, together with those relatives and friends who have gone before us and earned theirs.

Jesus and Mary, both human like ourselves, had to suffer Shakespeare’s ‘slings and arrows’, and they were perfect.  Sin never touched them, yet they had to suffer like all human frailty.  Mary, knowing what must be, and what must come, suffered passively the “Sword that was to pierce her heart”, and out of love, gave up her son as a sacrifice for the world.  Jesus, God made Man, pro-actively became man, lived and died for all of us – each and every individual person, and what greater love can there be, but to ‘lay down one’s life for one’s friends’.  Both Mother and Son, with minds focussed on what had to be won, endured their years of training and ran the race to the end.  Both gave everything for their ‘Golds’.

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