Living Each Moment with an Awareness

“Do not be afraid to be saints. Follow Jesus Christ who is the source of freedom and light. Be open to the Lord so that He may lighten all your ways.” Pope John Paul II

I received a phone call from someone whom I hadn’t heard from in a long while. It was out of the blue. Someone had decided to return to mass and the various groups at the parish out of nowhere. When I asked where they had been, the answer I got was, “That gang was too religious for me,” in a slight sarcastic tone. This person has a sense of humour. But there is no need to be that hard on oneself. Before that encounter, I used to go around asking others for help often but, now I realized that I needed to be a presence for others. I do not have all the answers. What St. John Paul II said is true. Only Christ can open the road ahead of us with all its potholes and obstacles. It begs the question, “Who do I follow?”

The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year, but rather that we should have a new soul.” GK Chesterton

Events might trigger the new soul that we are looking for. It was a strange feeling that came over me when I worked overseas for a few months a long time ago. I did not know what I was doing there initially but I needed to embrace the new opportunity that lay ahead of me. I had needed something more than what I was doing every day. I would go to work and come home and in between; I would fill my time with activities. After I spoke to a priest friend of mine, he had suggested this opportunity and I said yes. It was just what I needed. It not only opened my mind to new possibilities, but it opened my heart to what is possible in Christ. I had an opportunity to meet so many new people and find new challenges that would also bring more reflection about my relationship with Christ. This experience was only one of many that I had had that made me grow in faith. While I was there, I had run into a colleague when I was walking, and they gave me a lift home one day. I was a bit tired, and they noticed that. I was reminded that I needed to live in the moment and not think too far ahead or too far behind me. It was important advice because our relationship with Christ does not begin and end with one event. It continues through many experiences only if we live it with an awareness.

“Follow me Jesus said to Peter and today he repeats the same words to every Christian. St. Anthony of Padua

When Christ asked His apostles if they would leave Him like the others, their answer was clear. Where else would they go? There was nowhere else and no one greater to follow. Our lives are full of challenges, but we need to be clear who Christ is for us. He is where our hope lies. When our lives present us with a difficulty, we need to recognize that our hope lies in Him. Sometimes I say the novena to Our Lady, Undoer of the Knots. It is a powerful prayer that Pope Francis had made more known. It stays close to me in times of trouble. “Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is necessary.” Pope Benedict XVI

I need to continually pay attention to my experiences, however small or insignificant they might seem to me. There is always something to learn from someone if we only stay open in our hearts and minds. This Lent, I have been reflecting more and more about how to get to know Christ on a deeper level. It is a relationship that continues daily, even every moment.

“The Secret of Happiness is to live moment by moment and to thank God for what He is sending us every day in His goodness.” St. Gianna Molla