BY DAVID O’BRIEN
One of the great benefi ts of being a Christian is to remind people that God never blinks. He doesn’t get distracted or take his eyes off us, ever. In fact, if God stopped thinking about us for one minute, we wouldn’t be in hell, we would disappear.
For me, as a baptized Catholic called to work in lay ministry, I have the privilege and the responsibility of representing God and His Church to others.
Take for example this past weekend. My wife and I visited a friend, Laura, who discovered her faith through a mission trip I led to Mexico nine years ago. When we listened to all that she has endured since we last saw her, our hearts broke.
Over the past few years, Laura has nursed a profoundly sick child. Her sister just died of an overdose. Her father was in jail. And her marriage collapsed- -the divorce was finalized last Friday. She currently goes to counseling with her 7-year old daughter so they can cope with the trauma of the divorce and the younger brother’s illness.
Honestly, I didn’t know how Laura wasn’t sitting in the corner of her living room crying her eyes out.
I stood up at one point and simply hugged her and told her she was "beautiful and a walking miracle". She looked at me like I had just given her oxygen after months of holding her breath.
As my wife and I left, Laura walked us to our car where we prayed over her, reminding her of God’s faithfulness. When we finished, Laura said: "Once before when we were in Mexico together, I felt like God reached out to me when I felt lost. I think that is happening again right now." We left knowing she was in good hands.
A few hours later, we attended a wedding of a young woman, Cathy, who is a spiritual powerhouse. Evidently, her new husband is one too.
The wedding Mass was packed with people--young and old-we knew from my ministry here years ago. With so much faith in the building, the ceremony felt more like a revival than the typical wedding. The priest even commented that he was so inspired by the devotion and Christian commitment of the couple that it made him want to be a better priest. I’m sure many of the couples in the pews, my wife and I included, felt the same way about our vocations.
At the reception, Cathy, her family and several of the guests told us how they missed us at the parish and how much it meant that we were there. One former youth group member in the bridal party mentioned that she cried coming up the aisle when she saw us.
I knew these people weren’t reacting to us this way. We represented the presence of Christ to them because of how we had experienced the love of God together in the years I ministered there. So when they looked at us, they were reminded of how good the Lord had been and still is.
Later at the reception, in a quiet moment, I told my wife that my heart could not absorb it all. It was just too overwhelming. God had taken us in those few hours from the depths of despair to the heights of joy-filled revelry. From sadness and sickness, to sacrament and celebration. And God never blinked.
Through every moment, high and low, God was with us and with our friends. In the morning, we joined Job on the dung hill of asking God "why?". (Job 2-3) And in the afternoon, we danced with Jesus at the Wedding of Cana. (Jn 2:1-11) But one thing remained clear throughout the day. The God of our faith never slumbers nor sleeps. (Ps 121:4) He is with us when we are walking on water. And He is just as present when we start to sink. (Mt 14:22-33) Maybe more.
One of the great benefi ts of being a Christian is to remind people that God never blinks. He doesn’t get distracted or take his eyes off us, ever. In fact, if God stopped thinking about us for one minute, we wouldn’t be in hell, we would disappear.
For me, as a baptized Catholic called to work in lay ministry, I have the privilege and the responsibility of representing God and His Church to others.
Take for example this past weekend. My wife and I visited a friend, Laura, who discovered her faith through a mission trip I led to Mexico nine years ago. When we listened to all that she has endured since we last saw her, our hearts broke.
Over the past few years, Laura has nursed a profoundly sick child. Her sister just died of an overdose. Her father was in jail. And her marriage collapsed- -the divorce was finalized last Friday. She currently goes to counseling with her 7-year old daughter so they can cope with the trauma of the divorce and the younger brother’s illness.
Honestly, I didn’t know how Laura wasn’t sitting in the corner of her living room crying her eyes out.
I stood up at one point and simply hugged her and told her she was "beautiful and a walking miracle". She looked at me like I had just given her oxygen after months of holding her breath.
As my wife and I left, Laura walked us to our car where we prayed over her, reminding her of God’s faithfulness. When we finished, Laura said: "Once before when we were in Mexico together, I felt like God reached out to me when I felt lost. I think that is happening again right now." We left knowing she was in good hands.
A few hours later, we attended a wedding of a young woman, Cathy, who is a spiritual powerhouse. Evidently, her new husband is one too.
The wedding Mass was packed with people--young and old-we knew from my ministry here years ago. With so much faith in the building, the ceremony felt more like a revival than the typical wedding. The priest even commented that he was so inspired by the devotion and Christian commitment of the couple that it made him want to be a better priest. I’m sure many of the couples in the pews, my wife and I included, felt the same way about our vocations.
At the reception, Cathy, her family and several of the guests told us how they missed us at the parish and how much it meant that we were there. One former youth group member in the bridal party mentioned that she cried coming up the aisle when she saw us.
I knew these people weren’t reacting to us this way. We represented the presence of Christ to them because of how we had experienced the love of God together in the years I ministered there. So when they looked at us, they were reminded of how good the Lord had been and still is.
Later at the reception, in a quiet moment, I told my wife that my heart could not absorb it all. It was just too overwhelming. God had taken us in those few hours from the depths of despair to the heights of joy-filled revelry. From sadness and sickness, to sacrament and celebration. And God never blinked.
Through every moment, high and low, God was with us and with our friends. In the morning, we joined Job on the dung hill of asking God "why?". (Job 2-3) And in the afternoon, we danced with Jesus at the Wedding of Cana. (Jn 2:1-11) But one thing remained clear throughout the day. The God of our faith never slumbers nor sleeps. (Ps 121:4) He is with us when we are walking on water. And He is just as present when we start to sink. (Mt 14:22-33) Maybe more.
 | About David O’Brien David O’Brien is the Associate Director of Religious Education for Lay Ministry for the Archdiocese of Mobile. His column, Everyday Faith, appears regularly in the archdiocesan newspaper, the Catholic Week. Email David at dobrien@mobilearchdiocese.org. |
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