Catholic Faith Space
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Last Wednesday I went to mass at a nearby parish for Thanksgiving. I arrived a little more than ten minutes before mass started. I was glad to arrive a bit early, so I could spend the time before mass, praying, reflecting, and enjoying the quiet, especially after a long day of work before the long weekend that was ahead. But instead of a time of peace and quiet, the church was filled with noise and non-stop conversations. It’s no surprise that the world around us doesn’t stop talking. But our churches should be the one place where we can find silence and stillness easily, without having to put in effort to find it. If we aren’t listening, how do we expect to hear God?
When I say that the church was filled with noise before mass, I am not talking about babies or little kids. (It is good to hear these sounds!) There were conversations going on throughout the church between adults sitting in the pews. Some were in loud whispers and others were at normal volume, almost as if those in conversation had no idea where they were sitting and Who they were sitting before. There is nothing wrong with offering a greeting to someone as you arrive or saying a few words to others around you. But to sit there having full out conversations for more than a few minutes just doesn’t seem appropriate. The time before mass is not a social event or time to catch up with the people next to you. It’s a time to quiet our hearts and minds, be still, and listen. It’s time to pray and to prepare to encounter the God of the universe who makes Himself present on the altar during each and every single mass. The time before every mass we go to should be spent in prayer and reflection. However, now that we are in the season of Advent, this is especially important. The world around us is anything but quiet right now. It is busy, loud, and hurried. But we are called to slow down and be quiet, to wait and prepare, to stop and to listen. And we must carve out time to listen. We must be intentional about seeking out silence. If we cannot even find this in church, why would we find it anywhere else? God wants to speak to each one of us individually. And He will. But we must listen. And we can only listen when we are quiet. My prayer for each of us is that we would seek out silence and find time to be quiet not only before mass, but in our homes, and throughout random moments of our days. Let Jesus speak to you and spend these four weeks of Advent preparing room for Him in your heart!
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It seems like a lot of Americans have a sort of fascination with the royal family. Many people are intrigued by and invested in the lives of those in line of succession to the British throne. I think one of the main reasons for this interest in the royal family is that we don’t have any leaders in our country with the title of queen or king. We cannot really grasp the concept and we don’t really know what it means. But as Catholics, we should be aware of who a king is supposed to be and what it means for our lives. We have the most powerful king there could ever be. And His name is Jesus.
This past Sunday, we celebrated the Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. While Jesus has many different titles, king seems to be one of the best and most important. A king is someone who is a supreme ruler and someone who has authority. When we think about the role that Christ has in our lives, it should resemble that of a king. It is easy to say that He is king and to acknowledge this truth in our minds. But letting it be the reality takes it much further, and can be challenging for us. If we allow Jesus to be the king of our hearts, it means that he reigns in all aspects of our lives. It means that we surrender our lives to Him every day. As king of the universe and king of our hearts, we must allow Him to take complete control of our lives. When we allow Him to be king , we acknowledge that our lives are not our own and that everything we have is His and all that we do is for Him. As a king, Christ rules with love and mercy and He models perfect humility and service. When He is king of our whole lives, we listen to Him, serve Him, follow Him, and love Him. We allow Him to lead us and guide us and we try to become more like Him. Jesus Christ is the king of the universe. He wants to reign in our hearts and be the ruler of our lives. And when we accept His kingship, our lives become much better because His ways are better than our own. What or who really rules your life? My prayer for each one of us is that we would be able to say that it is truly Jesus. This past Saturday, I attended a young adult Catholic conference in Milwaukee. It was only a one day conference that lasted 12 hours but it was so impactful. It was one of those experiences that was very refreshing and much needed. One of the speakers in one of the sessions spoke about how we often think we can move on from the basic messages of our faith because we want to get to the deeper theological ideas. But we must spend our whole lives becoming more aware and responding to the most seemingly basic message that God loves us. It is easy for us to become numb to this statement.
God loves us. Of course we know this. We’ve heard this so many times in our lives that we can easily brush off this statement. But how many times do we really soak this in? How often do we really reflect on the fact that God loves each and every single one of us so much that He suffered and died for us? We know in our minds that God loves us. But we often don’t think about it because we don’t let it really sink into the depths of our hearts and lives. And sometimes, we need to be hit with this realization again to let it really impact our lives. In one of the sessions at the conference, the speaker told us to close our eyes as she prayed aloud. The band played a song as we prayed. All of a sudden, my eyes were wet and tears were rolling down my face. And they just kept coming. In those moments, I had no idea why I was crying. The only explanation I have is that God broke through the surface level of my heart and I was hit with the reality of God’s deep and unconditional love. In those moments, I was hit with an overwhelming experience of God’s love for me. We all need these experiences sometimes because it reminds us that God’s love for us changes everything. It reminds us that it is His love alone that gives purpose and meaning to our lives. As St. John Paul II said, “What really matters in life is that we are loved by Christ and that we love Him in return. In comparison to the love of Jesus, everything else is secondary. And, without the love of Jesus, everything is useless.” These experiences where we encounter God’s love for us moves this reality from our heads to our hearts. When was the last time you experienced God’s love in a way that really hit your heart? When was the last time you were hit with a deep awareness of His love? My prayer for today is that you would experience God’s love for you in a real and tangible way in the next week, whether in mass, adoration, confession, or just in an ordinary moment of your day. Allow this truth to overwhelm you and flood the depths of your heart and soul. At work on Monday, I was so focused on my computer and the emails and tasks I was working on that I didn’t even notice how dark it had gotten when 5:00 PM hit and it was time to leave. It seemed to come out of nowhere, but it was only because I hadn’t noticed the gradual changing of the sky. I wasn’t looking out the window or paying attention, even though I should have known how dark it would be because of clocks being turned back over the weekend. A different kind of darkness can slip into our lives in the same way. If we are not paying attention, or remaining alert and mindful, it is easy for darkness to seep into our lives without us noticing.
Everything we watch, listen to, and surround ourselves with can have an impact on us. Everything we take in on a daily basis can affect our thoughts, and furthermore, our actions. When we consume anything that is contrary to Christ and the Gospel, it leads us to tolerate and accept evil and sin. We may find ourselves brushing it off as no big deal. But it is a huge deal. Because when we tolerate and accept the evil and sin in our culture, and within our own lives, we grow further away from Christ. How many times have you watched a TV show that you probably shouldn’t have been watching? And maybe you tried to justify it by telling yourself, “it’s just a show” or “it’s just for entertainment.” Have you ever been a part of a conversation with a group of people that involved gossip or disrespecting someone’s reputation? Maybe it was easier to not walk away or end the conversation because you wanted to fit in. These are just a few examples of the many ways we can allow darkness into our lives. Seemingly small choices, such as these, are choices that people often do not realize are impacting them negatively. Darkness is strong and powerful and can easily overtake us. But the good thing is, Christ and His light are stronger. In every choice we make, we must pay attention and remain alert so as to notice what is around us and what we are taking in and how it affects us and our relationship with Him. May we all take time to more carefully examine our choices. Are they pulling us into the darkness or are they drawing us more closely to Christ and His light? |
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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