Rediscover Jesus 'Prologue'

When was the last time someone mistaken you for Jesus?

From Ash Wednesday this year our Adult Faith Formation group is doing Lent a little differently, we are reading Mathew Kelly's book Rediscover Jesus. It's a series of short readings, intended to open our heart and minds to the 'person' Jesus. We have decided to do it in retreat form. Please feel free, at any time, to join us.

The Prologue

As I begin reading, I am immediately drawn into the scene. The hustle and bustle of the city, the excitement of doing well, the celebration with colleagues and the anticipation of getting home to share the good news. It looks like God smiling down, you know one of those days where everything seems to being going right and you are top of the world. Your heart is enlarged, everything is possible....sun is shining ....life is good!!!

That's how it made me feel, I guess that's the point. God gives us those days to strengthen us, edify us, give us hope, to know that He is near and that all is well.

As I continue reading, the story unfolds with a minor crisis, a decision of sorts, the kind of incident that occurs daily, the kind that can easily be ignored and explained away. After all we all have places to go and people to see, but something inside the main character causes him to pause. We all pause at these sorts of incidents, as it pricks us way down deep in our hearts, and then a decision has to be made. The decision-making process occurs in milliseconds.

I love the picture the story invokes in my head as I can see the scene unfolding. Looking at it from a higher view-point, I can see the spiritual forces clearly at work. His colleagues urge him to come with them, to hurry and don't look back. To give into the preservation of self, that part of us that pricks our minds and urges us to think only of ourselves and our needs. The "I will not serve" part of us. You know the one I am talking about, the voice that screams out, put me first!!!!

It is the way of our society today, it is preached and taught through every media device. It has permeated our families, our homes, our schools, our churches and is the norm is society. The go along to get along mentality. The story states they were oblivious, but the scene unfolding in my head says, the incident described is too obvious to be oblivious. How many times have we been caught up in our own life and needs that we pretend not to see something?

Our eyes capture thousands and thousands of images every second, our brains assimilate these images and determine whether or not they are important based on our interior disposition at the time, and a course of action can be made instantaneous. It can seem like we didn't even see it. This is important to me, as it makes me realize to be plugged in and be attuned to my surroundings.

As the character decides to stay behind, I wonder what might be going through his head. I mean, obviously he decided to serve but it is the attitude in which we serve. Again, an interior disposition. The image of him comforting and gathering her scattered items, while hundreds of people walk on by totally oblivious, shouts of our collective ambivalence.

When we decide to serve, minister and restore another human being, society will not notice. They will not notice the one who needs served or the one serving. Essentially missing the nuances of what it means to be human. Even our character missed the nuances even though he decided to help.

It is like that when Our Lord initially calls us closer to Him. He grants us the grace to follow the prompting but does not reveal Himself to us. It's like we are on auto pilot, like when someone does a heroic act, and doesn't know how to answer when the reporter asks, "Why did you do it?" The answer is simply, "I don't know, it was the right thing to do at the time."

After our character does what he is simply prompted by the spirit to do, the catalyst meekly asked, "Are you Jesus?" Then explains that she prayed for Jesus to help her in her time of need. This line, is the whammy of the story, the simple BUT profound truth. I asked Jesus to help me in my time of need. Sit with this awhile and ponder it, I am, and I realize that I do not ask Jesus to help me nearly enough as I should. Even writing this, there is a situation that is completely out our/my control and I have yet asked Jesus to help me/us. Is it like that with you too?

The character is completely taken aback by this question, it pierces the very depths of his being...How could it not? The multifaceted implications of this simple question, produces a physical response that comes from the depths of his soul and one that he cannot control....tears well up in his eyes. This is how our Lord gets us!! He wants us for himself, he wants to reveal himself to us and he wants us to know that the only way that can happen is by doing His work on earth. As St. Theresa says, "Christ has no hands, except for yours, He has no feet, except for yours, no body but yours to full fill His work here on earth."

What happens next should be the big flashing neon light of how the devil works!!! His good day, you know everything working, top of the world sun shiny day, just got ambushed by the spiritual battle. How many times has this happened to you? How many times have you succumbed to the battle?

It's classic text-book spiritual warfare: designed to mitigate the implications of this simple act of kindness of serving, ministering and restoring another human being, by putting others before self. Know that when this happens, you are on the right path and allow time to ponder the real meaning of life and our purpose in the history of salvation.

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