Catholic Faith Space
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Last week I was listening to a podcast and they were talking about The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis. They were discussing the part where a character is about to meet Aslan the lion, who represents Jesus in the book. When talking about Aslan, one of the characters responds, “Who said anything about being safe? Of course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.” A few days later, this same exact line came up in my Bible study. Coincidence or not, over the last few days, this line has kept coming back to me. Jesus isn’t safe. But he’s good.
In this context, “safe” is not referred to as the opposite of harm. Because of course, Jesus never does anything to hurt us. In this context, “not safe” means uncomfortable, out of our control, challenging, unpredictable, adventurous, and the list goes on. Jesus is all of these things. When we choose to live for Christ and give Him everything we have, we are not promised a life of safety and comfort. We are asked to give up certain activities, make changes in our lifestyles, offer up pain and suffering, and ultimately surrender our lives to Him. This is hard. And scary. And it’s a life-long process. But it is so good. Every time we take a small step in the right direction, we can see Christ’s goodness and He reveals to us how He alone satisfies. The path will not always be smooth and easy though. We will be called to do things we might not want to do or things that we are hesitant about and things that are outside of our comfort zones. We will be asked to do things we would have never thought of on our own. These things, big and small, that we are asked to do reveal God’s goodness and draw us closer to Him. They also help us strive for holiness. Have you ever experienced God putting something on your heart but all you wanted to do was ignore it, brush it away, or pretend that it wasn’t there? Or maybe you’ve experienced God calling you to do something but have feared what would happen if you said “yes.” God calls all of us to serve Him in different ways each and every day. Maybe he’s calling you to share your faith with students by volunteering as a religion teacher. Maybe you’re being asked to give a talk at a retreat. You might be called to go on a mission trip or volunteer with a charitable organization. You could be called to serve as a missionary, start a different career, or to talk to that new person you see at mass. A few months ago, I was talking to a friend and she said something really profound. “The scariest words we can pray are ‘Jesus, make your desires my desires and your will my will.’ But this prayer is the greatest and best thing we could pray.” Following Jesus into the unknown can be scary. Once we take those steps, we will find joy and fulfillment we can’t find anywhere else and see that He is good. It would be so much easier to stay sitting on our couches with a blanket, some ice cream, and a good movie (There is nothing wrong with enjoying these good things). But we are being called to get out there and serve Him and follow Him with everything we have. We will have to walk through deep and sometimes treacherous waters. It won’t be safe. But it will be good because Christ is with us and He is so good.
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A few days ago, I came across an article about Catholics leaving the church. The conclusion that the author made was that, many times, it is not a situation of someone abandoning Catholic belief, but instead a case of him or her having not ever really found it to begin with “or having not known the fullness of faith which makes it worth keeping even when it feels the most difficult” (Grabowski, 2021). I think this author is completely correct in saying this. If people really understood the teachings of the faith, they would not leave or stop practicing.
Oftentimes, people will say they simply stopped believing in what the Church teaches or that the Church is wrong about certain teachings. The beliefs of the Catholic Church are misunderstood and falsely presented by the world. Many times, people who leave the Church are unable to see the truth in the midst of the lies the world is feeding them. When people don’t have a solid foundation in the faith, they will inevitably fall through the cracks. If people are not standing firmly on Christ and his words, then their ability to understand Church teachings and beliefs will crumble. Instead of asking, “Why did they leave the church?” we need to ask “Why were they Catholic to begin with?”. In other words, once they were old enough, what made them take ownership of their faith? I think what we often see in the church today is a failure of people to take ownership of their faith. In many cases, people are only Catholic because they were baptized and sent to Catholic school or CCD (weekly religion class). Just take a look at Confirmation classes. How many students cannot really tell you why they are being confirmed aside from the fact that their parents want them to or because it’s just the next thing to do. Many of these students abandon their faith upon going to college. Or maybe they never had it to begin with. There are teachings that, although they are filled with truth and goodness, many find difficult to accept. What the Catholic church teaches on abortion, contraception, IVF, marriage, and the Eucharist are just a few topics that people often attribute to their reasons for leaving. While some of the teachings on these topics may appear complex and hard, when we dive into the reasons we believe what we do and try to understand, it is evident that these teachings allow us to live the fullness of life. As we heard in this weekend’s gospel, even some disciples had a hard time accepting what Jesus was teaching, specifically on the Eucharist. Something that stands out to me in the passage is that Jesus doesn’t back down or change what he says. Like Jesus, we as the Church need to live and speak on what we believe with the same conviction. We must be able and willing to defend what the Catholic church teaches even when it is hard. We need to be available to teach, answer questions, and be there to discuss our faith with others. We should be ready to help people build a strong foundation so they take ownership of their faith. And ultimately, may we all live in such a way that each and every Catholic would say, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68) Last week at work I locked myself out of my office. Once I figured out that my keys were sitting on my desk and I really was locked out, I realized that there was only one way to get back in. I would have to crawl through my sliding glass window. This window is quite high from the ground and I knew it would not be easy to get in. However, I could not just sit there and do nothing. My immediate thoughts were, “What if someone walks past as I’m trying to boost myself up into the window? This is going to be a bit uncomfortable. What if I fall?” I pushed those thoughts aside and reminded myself that if I wanted to get in, I had to just go for it. When it comes to our faith, how often do we have some of these same thoughts? “What will others think when they see me practicing and living out my faith? This might be uncomfortable. What if I do something and I fall?” Living out our faith as Christians/Catholics is not a walk in the park. There are obstacles and times when we will be required to step out of our comfort zones. We will fall and have to get back up. If we want to strive to grow in holiness and grow closer to Jesus, we have to just go for it.
To what lengths would you go to completely surrender everything to the Lord and to follow Him wholeheartedly? I often think I am going all in when it comes to being a disciple. But then, I stop to reflect and realize that I am clinging to comfort, familiarity, and spiritual mediocrity. Are we satisfied with who who are and where we are at in our relationship with God? Are we content to just settle in and slide by, not putting in much effort? Do we think our faith is strong enough or that as Catholics, we are “good enough”? What are we doing to grow? Do we let fears, worries, excuses, or the opinions of others get in the way? We must not just stand still and expect to get somewhere. It is only when we remember that the path will not always be easy and comfortable that our faith will be greater, our trust stronger, and our love for God deeper. When it comes to our faith, there will be challenges and obstacles. If we want to experience more depth and real growth in our faith, we will have to step outside of our comfort zones. And that means it will not be as simple as walking through an open door. At times, we may have to crawl through the window. It is when we crawl through the windows that we will be able to rise up higher, to the places God is calling us to. “Jesus has made Himself the Bread of Life to give us life. Night and day, He is there. If you really want to grow in love, come back to the Eucharist, come back to that Adoration.” Yesterday night, I came across this quote from St. (Mother) Teresa in a little prayer book I was flipping through. While much of the world was asleep, I sat in Eucharistic Adoration. From 10:30-11:30 PM, I was able to tune out the noise of the outside world and be still in the presence of Jesus. And that one hour made all the difference in my week. How different would our world be if we spent more time sitting in front of the Blessed Sacrament? As the quote says, the Bread of Life is life-giving and He is there at any time, night and day.
Many parishes offer adoration at some point, at least throughout the month. Whether it’s in the early morning, late at night, in the middle of the day, or 24 hours, there are many opportunities to go and pray. Aside from mass, going to adoration is one of the most important things we can do. The past couple of Sundays, we’ve been hearing the Bread of Life discourse at mass. If this passage in scripture does not convince us, what will? We believe that Jesus is fully present in the Eucharist, body, blood, soul, and divinity so why would we not go and spend time sitting in his presence? There are a lot of excuses we may make for ourselves. We all have busy schedules and other commitments. But making time for and committing to spending time in adoration will be the best thing you do. Maybe it’s hard to sit in silence for an hour. The good thing is, there is no time requirement. Stay for 30 minutes, 15 minutes, or even five. We might find ourselves distracted or bored. Nobody is perfect so our minds will wander at times. Maybe we feel like we can’t hear God or we don’t know what to do in adoration. Whether we hear God or not, he is there and He sees our efforts and desires to know Him better. There are so many resources and materials we can use to guide us in our time in adoration. The world will tell you that this is unproductive and the biggest waste of time, to sit in silence and “do nothing.” But how could we expect a world that glorifies busyness, noise, and productivity, to understand silence, contemplation, and prayer? Time spent in adoration will change you. It will deepen your prayer life and your relationship with God. It will help you carry on throughout your day and bless you in many ways. Jesus is waiting, day and night. Go and spend time with Him because the Bread of Life is truly life-giving and life-changing. Something I’ve noticed at wedding receptions is how many people head straight into the dining area while staff is still setting up, in order to find their spot for dinner. They often think they need to reserve their spot ahead of time, as if there is not going to be enough seats for everyone. Seeing this makes me think of how entitled people think they are. Are we grateful for all of the blessings we have in life or have we just come to expect them, feeling entitled to them?
It’s not hard to notice the sense of entitlement present today among people and maybe even within ourselves. Whether it’s a student who is demanding that a professor gives back missed points on an exam, people expecting a certain salary, or people assuming they will always have good health, it’s easy to fall into the mindset of expecting everything to be handed to us. However, any good thing we have is a gift from God. God does not owe us anything yet he gives us everything. In today’s gospel, we read the story of Jesus multiplying the five loaves and two fish to feed five thousand. He turned very little into an abundance. And God does that all of the time; showing us an abundance of blessings out of the little bit we have. We may not witness big miracles like the feeding of the five thousand but if we open our eyes we can see God bringing blessings into our lives that we would not have without Him. We might think that because “we are good people and work hard” we will find success and have everything we want. We may believe that everything we have in our lives that is good is due to our own hard work and determination. It’s important to work hard and make good choices. But, apart from God, we can do nothing. Everything we have is not solely from our own doing, including our gifts and talents. All that He gives us is truly a gift. Every day, may we remember to be grateful and pray: Good and gracious God, help me to remember that everything I have is a gift from you. Give me a spirit of gratitude rather than entitlement. Help me to see all of the blessings in my life. When I think I deserve certain things, show me that ultimately, your love is enough and it is the greatest blessing I could ever experience. Open my eyes and my heart to see you working in my life. Amen. |
AuthorStriving to share hope, joy, God's love, and all of the good stuff, one blog post at a time. Categories |
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