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COLUMNS
Hitting the mark: Daily target practice develops virtue
April 1, 2010 | The Catholic Sun
When I was young we had an archery target set up in our backyard. My oldest brother was a big archery fan, as it fell into the realm of all things brave and medieval, and so he practiced on it regularly.
The older he got, the larger and more complex the bow became, until he owned what was in fact a “real” bow and arrow set. The sport caught on and soon all three of my brothers were amateur practitioners of archery, and at least one of them was able to accurately hit the center of the target with regular precision.
But as with most developmental fads for young boys, the thrill of archery wore off, and the “real” bow and arrows found their way into the great toy storage box in the shed. It wasn’t until my bored brother dug it out one spring that it saw the light of day again. Whether from the passage of time or from waned archery muscles, the bowstring was so dry and rigid that using it to hit the mark seemed impossible.
I find it fascinating that the Greek word for missing the mark is “sin.”
It is this term that St. Paul uses in his letter to the Romans when he states that we all “sin and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). But of course this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t aim for that glory. Indeed, our goal, like St. Paul’s “prize,” is to see that glory revealed in Heaven. Hitting the mark, in my case, means getting my family and me there to see it together.
Taking aim
When my son began preparing to make his First Confession, I saw a great opportunity to talk with him, in a way a boy could understand, about his own “target practice.” He, who has the land of Narnia mapped out in his imagination vividly, embraced the metaphor with great enthusiasm.
Before long he was telling me about his daily goals, or “marks,” of being kind to his sister or doing chores the first time he is asked. It was he who came up with the idea of what would be close-but-not-quite-close-enough to the mark, and what was clearly outside the last concentric circle. Before I knew it we were discussing Church teaching on lesser and serious sin. Annoying or frustrating his sister would be just a bit off the mark while, he noted, “smacking her with a big stick” repeatedly, (even if she bothered him first, he added) would be way off target.
Yep, I said. Way off. Let’s avoid smacking big sticks altogether and just keep to the bows and arrows.
We discussed ways to keep our spiritual muscles strong, like prayer and the sacraments, in order to aim better and not miss the target. We both considered what a great gift Christ has given us in the sacrament of Reconciliation, which enables us, after missing the mark, to take aim again. And we both agreed that neither of us would let our faith (our bow) become so dry and rigid that it wouldn’t help us to aim at the mark of God’s glory.
So when I see him doing something less than chivalrous to one of his sisters, I simply remind him to “right his aim.” And he is not hesitant to do the same to me. After all, he wants us to get to heaven together too. He’s pretty sure it looks like Narnia, and he just knows there are “real” bows and arrows there.
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