Real Meaning

Today is the feast day of St. John Paul II.  Throughout his life and time as pope, he shared countless profound and beautiful words that give us a lot to reflect on.  One of my favorite quotes from him is, “The most beautiful and stirring adventure that can happen to you is the personal meeting with Jesus, who is the only one who gives real meaning to our lives.”  Once you have had an encounter with Jesus, everything changes.  You no longer allow your life to be defined by what the world tells us matters.

At the beginning of last year, the organization I work at went through a restructuring.  Everyone changed roles to better align with the mission.  The role I went from to the role I moved into was sort of a promotion.  I remember telling someone about this transition as they asked me about my job.  As soon as I explained about the change, the first thing this person asked was, “is there an opportunity for you to move up again?”  She was immediately wondering about more promotion opportunities.  I responded that maybe there was, but in my head I was thinking, “I just want to stay in this role and do the job well.  I’m not interested in climbing the ladder.”  I think this person’s question is indicative of the society we live in.  So many people find meaning in advancing their careers and being at the top, so they can make as much money as possible.  To be clear, there is nothing wrong with advancing in your job and being at the top of the organization.  But the problem comes when this is what defines your life and where you find the meaning of your life.  And this is just one example of many in our culture where people seek their meaning.

Our relationship with Jesus should occupy more space in our minds and hearts than any other worldly pursuit.  The sad reality is that there are countless people among us, including other Catholics/Christians who have not had an encounter with Jesus.  They have not met Him in a way that has changed their lives.  We must invite people to take part in various opportunities and continue to share with them how Jesus has impacted our lives.
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When we have had a personal encounter with Christ, it changes everything.  It takes us down a path we would have not chosen to walk down otherwise.  My prayer for each person reading this is that you would remember the meaning that your life has because of Jesus and that you would share that with the people around you who have not met Him yet.