It's a marathon - not a one day training session

I’m currently doing puppy training class with my puppy. Now, he’s almost a year old so he’s still young but not quite a brand new puppy. But, for anyone who has taken on the challenge of bringing a new furry friend into your home then you know the challenges that come with it, the patience needed, and especially….the hours of cleaning up messes.

Even with training class, it takes time for him to get it right as soon as he is told. It takes practice. It takes repetition. It takes work. He doesn’t go to class one day and perfectly know how to sit and stay for the rest of his life.

Isn’t that the same way we are in our Christian walk?

It’s a marathon, not a sprint. It’s a cycle – not a single class.

St. Paul wrote in his second letter to Timothy “I have competed well, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim. 4:7)

When we look back over the course of our Christian walk, our faith, can we say we have finished the race…finished the marathon…or did we just do really well on one day of training?

One of the largest factors that help us succeed is each other.

Rather than fighting and arguing fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, we should be building each other up, helping each other finish the race and finish well.

Remember the puppy? It’s a partnership to ensure he learns what he needs to learn and that he becomes a more obedience, faithful, and trustworthy dog.

It’s a partnership between myself and him, with the trainers the leaders.

We each have partnerships in our life and it’s a question of if that partnership is one of trust and love. My dog loves me, he wants to please me, and in return – I am devoted to his success and love him, am committed to being dedicated to him. I work with him each day, practice with him, and take him to training classes. He, in turn, works hard to try and please me and learn what he needs to learn so he can do what he needs to do. The trainers- those in authority- teach both of us what we need to do and know in order to succeed.

We have trainers in our lives – priests, bishops, the Pope, and all those saints who have gone before us. They give us the information to know what we need to know in order to succeed as a Christian – to please our master – the one we so adamantly adore and love and the one who loves us unconditionally.
Despite the mess ups, the accidents, the mistakes – I still love my dog and he loves me.

Despite our mess ups, our mistakes, our sins, and when we fall – God still loves us and He is there to help pick us up.

Mistakes are more likely to happen if we don’t keep practicing. If I go a day or two without practicing what my puppy has been taught in class then he forgets, or is a little rusty, or has to start over to remember. When we train for a marathon (albeit, I’m no fitness expert and have done good to finish a 5K) we work with health experts, fitness experts, and we practice every day. Every single day we run, exercise, work out in the gym. It’s all in preparation to be able to finish, perhaps win, the race. Ultimately, the runner may cross the finish line but it’s the team that helped get that runner there. It’s a team that builds up Christians and helps hold us each accountable and keep us focused on finishing the race.

We should be there to help pick each other up – not tear each other down.
When we speak badly of a fellow Christian – Catholic or Protestant – we are working to tear down the progress. We are working to damage what God is trying to build.

God wants us to build a Church that glorifies Him – not one that is turning on each other and tearing each other down.

If we build each other up, strengthen each other, and help each other – we all finish the race and keep the faith.