Extraction

"Be not afraid of discomfort. If you can't put yourself in a situation where you are uncomfortable,

then you will never grow. You will never change. You'll never learn."

~Jason Reynolds~

Extraction is defined as "the action of taking out something, especially using effort or force." For something to be extracted, there must be an outside force for it to happen. For example, I recently needed oral surgery and I needed some of my teeth extracted. The teeth themselves can not extract themselves but another force, the dentist, needed to perform the action. There are reasons why something needs to be extracted. It may be for health reasons or for the betterment of it or for those things around it. It is not an easy procedure when something needs to be extracted. Effort or force needs to be used because whatever it is that is being extracted has roots.

These roots take hold and grip tightly to stay in place. For it to be extracted, one has to use more force then what force it is using to stay. All of it must be extracted or it will still continue to do harm to whats around it or in some cases grow back. Usually what is extracted is something that is bad like a rotten tooth, but sometimes something good needs to be extracted like a growing tree that needs to be moved to a sunnier location for it to grow. Both the good and bad extractions can be seen in the church and in our own lives.

There needed to be "extractions" in the Church for a long time. With the sex abuse in the church, there needed to be those extractions of Priests, Bishops and Cardinals that either caused direct abuse or those who did nothing to protect the children and people. Those who moved or covered it up must also be extracted from the church as well so it can heal and grow. Many are being removed now but what also needs to be handled is the roots of the abuse as well. There are many theories on the root of the abuse from not allowing married priests, to homosexuality in the priesthood, to an all male leadership in the church, to clericalism, and many more. Each may play little or no role in the root cause. Honestly, unless the Priests, the Bishops, the Cardinals, the Church, the Seminarians, and the Laity are rooted in Jesus, it will continue in one form of abuse or another. It is not just about sexual abuse. While the sex abuse is taking front stage, other abuses like of power, prestige, judgement and money need to be addressed also. Each of these can take root in anyones life and cause damage to themselves and those around them. When it is a member of the clergy, it has a great impact on many lives around them in the church. The life of the clergy and those who are studying to be priests (seminarians) need to be rooted in Christ.

Sin takes root in our lives and also needs to be extracted from our lives. One way for that to happen is from Confession. Confession extracts the sin from our lives but unless we are committed to keeping it from our lives, it will take root again. The root of the sin that keeps accruing also needs to be taken care of. At times one may need to remove themselves from lifestyles or people that promote the rooting of the sin. The extraction of people from your life is not easy but at times must be done for a healthier spiritual life. The sins that are fostered and nurtured always need to be extracted fully for growth.

There are times when we may not know or understand why we need to be extracted from a situation or path that we are on. While God doesn't physically reach down and extract us from situations, He does use situations that were created by us or others to extract us. This is not an easy extraction when you, yourself do not know or understand why. Even when you do know, it still brings challenges. There is a situation in my life that I did need to be extracted from and would not have left it on my own. As I said earlier, those who are clergy or studying to be one, need to be fully rooted in Jesus. As a seminarian, that root was not where it needed to be for me. My relationship with God, and the human side of Church were strained and not in balance. It is hard to say but I needed to be extracted from that life of a seminarian to work on my relationship with God, the human Church and with myself. While I do not doubt the precepts of the Church or lack in belief of the Catholic Faith. Those are strong and are solidly rooted in my life. It is more then those things that are needed to be where I was in my life. Where I am to be planted in the future is yet to be determined but I am keeping things open. This time of extraction and waiting is a hard one and I do not know how this all will be revealed to me but I do know it had to be.

Extractions in our lives do need to happen. If it is to remove sin or for us to be removed from a path that is not good for us. Unlike when teeth are extracted and novocain is used to numb the pain, we do feel these extractions and the pain after. This pain is not to hurt us but to remind us why it needed to be extracted. Pray and think about what needs to be extracted from your life to make it a better life.