I went to Mass yesterday, as I customarily do. Father is leaving, so he preached a bit longer, and with more emotion. He said that the key to the life of holiness is gratitude. That is true. Often when you hear this, though, the tendency is to say something like, "I will be thankful for ALL THE THINGS! I'm going to pray 12 hours of every 24, the Rosary, Chaplet, etc."
And that's fine, if you can. Most of us will fail, though, and were we to dwell on it, we would question the very gift of our faith. God does not want this.
I went through the Mass, and I know it is becoming normal again when I know what the celebrant will say. I am hearing the words, praying them in my soul. If they vary too much, we become disoriented. Perhaps the essence of being Catholic is doing the same good things over and over again.
We're conditioned to believe that doing things by rote is bad, that it is exactly the sameness that destroys Catholicism. On the contrary; the things we want and need are things which we do not yet possess in full measure. If you know you need peace, holiness, and obedience to God's will, there is little point in asking for other things.
I received the Blessed Sacrament, and as much as some people might like to talk to Jesus about whatever they have, I like to let Him sit there with me. He just sits there, and somehow I know that I am known and loved in a way that no one else can. He has this weighty presence that other people just don't have. Sometimes, I silently mention a person or two, but this is not news for either of us. When I turned to leave, I felt the gratitude like a great wave. I felt the tears well up. At times, it's the only language that makes any sense.
I'm still a man, and even sensitive men don't like to show much emotion in front of other men. It was the kind of day where tears could pass for sweat or allergies, and no one has to know. So God knows my gratitude, and now so do you, but I don't have to endure a big fuss and production.
All that is to say, we don't need to be ostentatiously doing everything. We just have to be the sort of people for whom peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation is normal. And if God chooses to make us aware of how glorious and majestic the whole matter really is, we accept the tears and the awestruck joy, and we offer it back.
And that's fine, if you can. Most of us will fail, though, and were we to dwell on it, we would question the very gift of our faith. God does not want this.
I went through the Mass, and I know it is becoming normal again when I know what the celebrant will say. I am hearing the words, praying them in my soul. If they vary too much, we become disoriented. Perhaps the essence of being Catholic is doing the same good things over and over again.
We're conditioned to believe that doing things by rote is bad, that it is exactly the sameness that destroys Catholicism. On the contrary; the things we want and need are things which we do not yet possess in full measure. If you know you need peace, holiness, and obedience to God's will, there is little point in asking for other things.
I received the Blessed Sacrament, and as much as some people might like to talk to Jesus about whatever they have, I like to let Him sit there with me. He just sits there, and somehow I know that I am known and loved in a way that no one else can. He has this weighty presence that other people just don't have. Sometimes, I silently mention a person or two, but this is not news for either of us. When I turned to leave, I felt the gratitude like a great wave. I felt the tears well up. At times, it's the only language that makes any sense.
I'm still a man, and even sensitive men don't like to show much emotion in front of other men. It was the kind of day where tears could pass for sweat or allergies, and no one has to know. So God knows my gratitude, and now so do you, but I don't have to endure a big fuss and production.
All that is to say, we don't need to be ostentatiously doing everything. We just have to be the sort of people for whom peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation is normal. And if God chooses to make us aware of how glorious and majestic the whole matter really is, we accept the tears and the awestruck joy, and we offer it back.
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