discipline

One day a little boy saw a butterfly struggling to get out of its cocoon. It was a difficult struggle, one that entails expending all of ones strength to get one’s body out through the little hole of the cocoon. The boy out of sheer generosity tried to help it by making it easier for the butterfly to get out. He cut the hole bigger and in doing so the butterfly came out in no time. But what he saw coming out disturbed him. It looked more like a caterpillar than a butterfly – its body bloated and its wings helplessly shriveled up. The butterfly never took to flight. Its bloated body was too heavy for it to bear and its wings too withered to carry it up in flight. The boy learned from that experience that that little hole in the cocoon and the struggle the butterfly has to take to go through that hole was a necessity. By going through it, excess fluid is excreted and the wings are combed and straightened out. The little hole and the struggle that accompanies it were necessities which a butterfly must undergo if it wishes to become a beautiful butterfly and to be up on its wings and take flight.


It is in this context that I would like to reflect with you on our gospel tonight and the events that is happening in our community. Peter was that boy. In his love for Jesus he wanted to make it easy for him. Not the cross Lord, not the cross. But Jesus rebuked him. He has to undergo this, Jesus could not turn his back on the cross, he has to accept it. And from that time on Jesus would tell them of the necessity of suffering, sacrifice and self-denial. If anyone wishes to follow me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross and follow me. In a sense Jesus is telling Peter, permit me to struggle to put up with the inconvenience of going through the little hole so that I may become what I was meant to be by my Father. In a sense, Jesus is also telling us now, if you want to take your wings to flight, if you want to become as beautiful as a butterfly, if you want to become what you were meant to be, there is no other way but by going and moving through the inconvenience of suffering, sacrifice and self-denial. There is no other way but to move out and struggle through the little holes of our cocoons.
It is in this context of the cross, of sacrifice, and self-denial that I would like to reflect with you on the value of discipline and not just on its value but more so on its necessity. If you want to become what you were meant to be, there is no other way but by going and moving through the inconvenience of suffering, sacrifice and self-denial.
What is discipline? Discipline should not be thought of as mere deprivation of something. If indeed there is deprivation it is not for deprivation’s sake but for something more necessary. And what is this more necessary thing? It is to keep our attention clearly focused on the goal. Discipline is not deprivation rather it is something that keeps our attention clearly focused to our goal. If indeed you are made to undergo the inconvenience of sacrifice and self-denial it is to keep your mind clearly focused on the goal. If indeed one is punished or one is deprived of something he values, it is to shake him up to wake him up in order to keep his attention clearly focused on the goal. If indeed one is corrected, and in the process is made to undergo the humiliating process of discipline, it is for no other purpose but to keep his attention clearly focused on the goal.
Peter last week was called rock. Now Jesus never hesitated a bit to call him Satan. Why? To keep his attention clearly focused on the goal. Peter last week was called the foundation rock, now Jesus did not hesitate a bit in calling Peter the stumbling block. Jesus does not mince words – he never tones down the gravity of his statement. He was very clear in his affirmation, but he was also brutal in his criticism. Why? To keep Peter’s attention clearly focused on the goal. Discipline.
This week since many things have disturbed our community, we will try once more to refocus ourselves to our goal. This we will do by way of discipline – not as deprivation but by recovering our focus on the goal and the things that will lead us to it.
Punctuality must be observed. We must permit the ringing of the bell to keep us on focus. The bells call us to the fact that there are things and values in this life that have to be equally attended to. That there are things and values in this life that may not be to my liking at the moment but are of grave importance; that there is a need to balance life, a balance between play, study and prayer – to keep us once more closely attentive to the demands of our goal.
Silentium magnum must be strictly adhered to not just because the rule says so, not solely to deprive one of communicating, but to keep us on focus. It is to make us aware that there is a higher power who controls destiny, that every event that happens in our lives have meaning and is the arena where God is speaking to us – if only we are silent and aware. Silence keeps us on focus making us aware that we just don’t pass through life like trees and pigs, that there is more to existence than just being, that there is more to life than just breathing, that there is more to life than just passing through the days. Silence and the awareness it brings makes us human. In silentium magnum you are made to focus once more, to think more deeply, to be aware more intimately of the presence of God in our life. It makes you aware that life is not just a series of day one going to day two, going to day three. Each day has a story of its own, a lesson to be learned and a memory to be cherished, all imbued with the presence of a loving God who keeps watch over us.
If people are angry because somebody wrote something on the walls of the comfort room, despicable things which the sacredness of this chapel and his presence on the altar prohibits me from even mentioning, if people are angry, it is to keep you in focus; that walls are not just walls, and things are not just things – they are God’s gift to us. It is to keep you on focus, that if indeed you want to be remembered by people around you, you don’t do it by writing things on the walls, but by writing goodness in the hearts of your friends and the community you serve, where your memory will be treasured forever and your influence and wisdom sought.
If it is hard for you to seek permission to go out, it is not just to keep you from going out and just that. It is to keep you on focus. Stability is important for formation and for people to grow. My experience in gardening has taught me that the more frequently you move the plant around, the more you impede its growth, for it has to adjust every time you change even just its position and its place under the sun.
If we are angry because of the way you show disrespect to your teachers, we are not depriving you of fun. It is to keep your attention focused, to let you know that like you and me, people get hurt; that like you and me people want to be loved; that like you and me people want to be respected - to create in us sensitivity for the feelings of others. To keep our attention clearly focused on the goal.
Discipline is necessary. There is no other way as there is no other way for Jesus except the cross. There is no shortcut, there is no easier way. In the end only those who can continually focus themselves to the goal will survive this training – and only those who have set their eyes and their actions to the goal will reach the summit and become what God intended him to become – only with discipline can one reach the goal.