Ponderings

Part of my Lenten disciplines has been cutting back on my excessive Facebook time and replacing it with podcasts. I’ve discovered some fabulous ones, and the kids and I have been enjoying listening on the drive to and from school, and while I’m at home doing the daily drudge. One of the most recent podcasts we listened to was the conversion story of an Iranian atheist to Catholicism. And something he said has stuck with me ever since. When asked about how he came to understand the role of Mary in the church, he said the following. “Catholicism is about Jesus. Not belief in Jesus, but Jesus himself. It’s not a set of ideas, it’s  a person. And a person has a mother”. 

This, for me, bore down to the crux of a lot of issues. When we dig deep, when we get past theories and beliefs and ideas... we find Christ. The divine man. The bridge between heaven and earth. God in the flesh. Not in the “I don’t need religion because I’ve got a relationship” kind of way. But in a gritty, real, concrete, “this is a man who lived in history” kind of way. He is REAL.  And all truth stems from that fact. And a man has a mother. And a family. Enter the communion of saints, that cast of characters that my husband initially struggled so hard to understand at first as well.

Lent is such a spiritual reset button. How I need it every year.

"I worry some of you still have not really met Jesus—one to one—you and Jesus alone. We may spend time in the chapel—but have you seen with the eyes of your soul how He looks at you with love? Do you really know the living Jesus—not from books but from being with Him in your heart? Have you heard the loving words He speaks to you? Ask for the grace; He is longing to give it. Until you can hear Jesus in the silence of your own heart, you will not be able to hear Him saying 'I Thirst' in the hearts of the poor. Never give up this daily intimate contact with Jesus as the real living person—not just the idea."

— Saint Mother Teresa