Sorry for the prolonged absence, but I have had a busy last few weeks. I hope everyone has had a blessed Christmas season. Epiphany has just past. Epiphany is my favorite day. Well, it's my birthday, too so I can always remember it. but there is more to Epiphany than my birthday. Epiphany has always been explained to me as the "Ah-Ha! moment" It is that realization that God is indeed among us. A saviour is born to us and it is Chrst, the Lord. For a returning Catholic, I have received several epiphanies over the past few years. The greatest is that I came to realize that the Catholic Church does, in fact, contain a richness of spirituality provided through the grace of God in Christ, Jesus.
Once back in the Church, my priest invited me to take my tim and get to know the Church again. There is such a tendency to want to jump in and experience everything that the Church has to offer all at once. Now, I don't know about you, but I want everything like yesterday. I am sure that I missed out on a lot in life simply because I wanted to rush to experience all that I could as quickly as I could. The advice from the priest was sound. In fact, it was because of his advice that I did some soul searching and discovered my need to find balance and simpicity in my life. And this is where the richness of the Church's spirituality came to the rescue for me!
I knew I needed balance and simplicity and, of course, God. With this in mind I began a quest within the confines of my Catholic faith. Sure enough, there was group that could support, encourage and help me in my quest. There were several possibilities and my struggle was in finding just the right fit. All of the groups I looked at were Catholic and were approved by the magisterium, but it is helpful to have the group that allows you to grow spiritually and have those epiphanies of God that help us develop a relationship with God.
For me, the Benedictine's have a lay group called oblates. This group has helped me to experience a structured way to live so that I could slow down my pace, seek God and simplify my life so that I could hear that still small voice that is God. There are many associations, teritery orders and groups within the Catholic Church that can accommodate many and varied interests.
The beauty of my life now is that I can relax in God. I know I am not perfect and I know that God is aware of this fact! But, now I have a place within my Catholic faith to slowly begin to reorganize myself. I would encourage you to explore the Catholic Church and all of its associations, religious orders, lay orders and organizations. See if there isn't something that you would fit your spiritual needs.
God Bless! Pax!
2 comments:
Hi Jim,
Thought I would check in through your blog. I was raised in the church (not Catholic). I think the biggest disservice the "c"atholic church has done is to present to us a God who is disappointed in us when we fail. I'm glad to see you have found the place of grace and mercy before the Gracious One. He is so on our side and wants us to enjoy him and all he has made. Blessings today.
catd,
Thank you for your note! Yes, God is the essence of Love and Mercy. I always found myself disappointe in myself,but I was never taught that God was disappointed in me. Sad to say, I grew up very hard on myself. Actually, I have since found a great comfort in such things in the Catholic Church as the sacrament of Reconcilation or "confession." This is where I only recently began to turn over to God the occasional self-loathing I had. It is on my return that I began to learn what the Church had really been teaching, had I given it a chance--God loves me and wants the best for me! Thank God that I was given the opportunity to live to understand that love!
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