From the Desk of Rev. Charles Warren
A priest from our diocese taught one of my favorite classes in seminary. One of the most impactful lessons has stuck with me for years. He said when we look at the women and men of the early church and how they lived…we see a very similar spirituality. This sort of apostolic spirituality plays out over and over again in the lives of saints throughout the ages.
They started with recognizing their limitedness, namely their sin. Acknowledging how they failed to live in a way that made them fulfilled. But the turn really happens in the second step, gratitude.
Gratitude opens the heart, to see where God has worked and where he will work. It expands the heart to let in more grace and realistically more people that God sends to us. Through this expansion of our heart (certainly a growth in love) we come to theosis. Union with God. By loving others we become like love - God himself.
These steps: recognizing our sin, gratitude, expansion of heart, theosis…are key to a healthy Christian community. In particular, that 2nd step, gratitude, seems to me to be a crucial moment.
I’m assisting at many parishes because many of my brother priests have taken time off to work on their health. I was so pleased with our junior and senior leaders of the sophomore retreat. I had to leave quickly after the beginning to go to another parish. When I returned, the team told me all the good things that happened. The other chaperones confirmed the experience.
It is not average for young people this age to be so confident in their abilities and be able to lead others in the faith. Gratitude is the only response I can have for their work. I’m thankful I have students that I can entrust to lead their peers and our younger students. That is the Holy Spirit working. If each of us did as our young leaders did, imagine what our community could be!
In thanking God, we become more human. We are reminded of the goodness that is offered to us, something way better than our own designs. Something way better than our own ideas. Gratitude puts us in a place of recognizing that we have so little control over this life and the right Christian mindset is to receive what we are given, good or bad, and offer it back to God.
Gratitude sees the good in others, notices the movements of the Holy Spirit, engenders community. Thank God for Marian Central Catholic!
Rev. Charles Warren
