Our Lady of Ransom Catholic Church, Illinois, runs a blog, and this particular post urges their parish to prepare. Fr. Matt Bozovsky states that he felt compelled to speak about the future that the Spirit wanted us to consider ‘prepping’ for; he talks about St Paul’s plea to be ready for preparation, that the time of ‘Passive Christians’ is coming to an end.
Bozovsky urges his parish to ask themselves what they’re willing to give up for the sake of Christ; his message speaks of burning the ships, focusing on evangelism and spirit-led hope. Preparation for the second coming, or a new age of evangelisation, is a message that we should reflect on, and how much our faith really means to us.
‘Burning the Ships’ or ‘burning bridges’ are analogies that encourage us to fully commit to what is coming, and not to leave an escape route.
It’s a message that perhaps we all must consider, as the ‘safety nets’ of religion are not what will bring us to God, but how we live our life and the influence of our faith on those around us.
Anne Calver, in her recent book “Unleashed” co-written with her husband Gavin, has a very similar sentiment:
At the back of our ‘Encounter’ venue at Spring Harvest, a woman was painting during the Bible teaching. She drew a gigantic wave, telling me that the paper wasn’t big enough for the wave that the Lord was showing her. Next to the wave she wrote some very challenging words: ‘Big swell coming. Train hard. Prepare well. Get ready to catch it! Ride it well.’
As I read these words and looked at the picture, I felt a ripple of pins and needles (the Holy Spirit) through my body, and my immediate thought was ‘I cannot ride that wave. I am no good at surfing!’
Anne Calver, “Unleashed”, released April 2020