Life, love, death, God, joy - making sense of it all!

How did we meet Christ? We ask this walking through the narrow passageways of the catacombs. Martyrs found their final rest here. Hundreds and thousands of Christians secretly celebrated Mass for fear of being discovered. Why do such things? Christ died hundreds of years before. It’s just a bit of bread and a sip of wine.

No, there’s something more. For the Christians, martyrs, and saints of the first century, Jesus Christ was Someone. He meant going beyond the pomp and circumstance of their daily Roman lives. He could offer them more than the cosmopolitan, capital of the world ever could, despite her delicacies, luxuries, and opportunity to satisfy every sensual pleasure. Christ offered his body and blood for food, the comfort of Christian charity, and the promise of the satisfaction of all desire in eternal life.

But have I experienced this? 


Have we experienced the depth of his love? We are here because Christ found us and loved us, in some way or another. I haven’t personally had mystical experiences or life-changing apparitions. Christ, however, is a huge part of my life - in prayer and in the sacraments. Kneeling before him in the Eucharist, how many times have I found the strength to keep going, the answer to a problem, or simply consolation in the presence of a friend! Or how often have I rushed to the confessional to encounter Christ’s mercy, to lay my burden on him, to experience his yoke which is light and easy! 

 
Love for Christ is the foundation of our lives as Christians. It runs even deeper for a priest. I’ve promised not only to preach pious thoughts but to try to give you a window into God’s grace at work in me as a Legionary priest. As priests and religious, Christ is truly the center of everything. He is love of our lives on a spiritual and human level. We have to give up in many human ways our family and friends, but Christ supplies our every need.

In our daily prayers, we ask him frequently to be the center, criteria, and model of our lives in all of its aspects. But he’s not only our ideal or what we are striving for, but he is our constant companion on the journey that makes it possible. He is our friend, brother, God, and Savior. We’re called to love him above all else, but it helps so much to remember as I’ve included on the front of this booklet, “Love consists in this: it is not we who loved God, but God loved us and sent his Son to save us from our sins” (I Jn 4:10). 

But my next question, how can I love him in return? How can I best repay his free and generous love? It’s hard because even our love is his gift. Okay, enough of this confusion – sorry, but trying to talk about God in human words is difficult and more difficult after three years of theological jargon. You’ll have to bear with me.

In our love for God, we have to make the effort and trust that he will help us. Part of this pilgrimage is meeting God in a special way. We’ve left our ordinary lives behind and come closer to him even if we can’t quite figure out how. He calls us closer to himself. Secondly we make sacrifices out of love for him. I know we’re staying in a four star hotel, and to be honest, things are pretty good. Yet, God will ask something from each of us, who knows what it is – getting along with another pilgrim, walking on sore feet, or simply paying attention in more than one Mass this week (I promise to keep the homilies short or at least I’ll try). 


And above all we are called to offer Christ our joy. Joy is one of his greatest gifts, and what has to characterize as Christians. I remember seeing how happy my fellow seminarians and priests were. At first I thought to myself, even if my smile was that big, it would be fake. But when we encounter Christ and experience his love, despite the greatest suffering, no smile is big enough to express our joy.