Only exciting things can happen! - a friend recently spoke these words to me, and reflecting on them in light of this season of the Resurrection, in light of our Catholic faith, and in light of where I find myself in discernment about the future plans God has for me, they ring truer and truer! Only exciting things can happen!
In his Easter Vigil homily, Pope Francis spoke of "God's surprises." He speaks of the women who go to Jesus' tomb to anoint His body. They are sad, yet continue to feel love. "...[A]t this point," the Holy Father says, "something completely new and unexpected happens, something which upsets their hearts and their plans, something which will upset their whole life: they see the stone removed from before the tomb, they draw near and they do not find the Lord's body. It is an event which leaves them perplexed, hesitant, full of questions: "What happened?", "What is the meaning of all this?" (cf. Lk 24:4). Doesn't the same thing also happen to us when something completely new occurs in our everyday life? We stop short, we don't understnad, we don't know what to do. Newness often makes us fearful, including the newness which God brings us, the newness which God asks of us. We are like the Apostles in the Gospel: often we would prefer to hold on to our own security, to stand in front of a tomb, to think about someone who has died, someone who ultimately lives on only as a memory, like the great historical figures from the past. We are afraid of God's surprises. Dear brothers and sisters, we are afraid of God's surprises! He always surprises us! The Lord is like that." The full text of the homily can be found here: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/homilies/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130330_veglia-pasquale_en.html
How often I have found myself afraid of God's surprises. As I reflected more on the Pope's words, it became apparent to me how silly this is! How silly not to trust that He has only goodness and mercy in store for me. How quickly I forget that it is all He has ever given me. Even moments of pain and heartache He turns into grace and mercy. Reflecting on specific moments of my past when I have known God's presence and felt His embrace helps me to look with joy to the future, in the same way that the women at the tomb experience this joy and home. Pope Francis says that "it is precisely this loving remembrance of their experience with the Master that enables the women to master their fear and to bring the message of the Resurrection to the Apostles and all the others (cf. Lk 24:9). To remember what God has done and continues to do for me, for us, to remember the road we have travelled; this is what opens our hearts to hope for the future. May we learn to remember everything that God has done in our lives" (Pope Francis, Easter Vigil Homily, 3).
If we can learn to live as people of thanksgiving, confident in the Lord's goodness and love, we can truly bring the message of the Resurrection to a world desperately in need of it! We who know the Lord must bring others to know Him! As I grapple with the questions regarding my future and the changes that may come, I strive to remember the road I have travelled and all that God has done for me! With this in mind, I cab keep my heart open for the exciting things that are bound to happen!
Written by Kristen
