BE YOURSELF

BE YOURSELF, BECAUSE SOMEBODY HAS TO AND YOU’RE THE CLOSEST

I talk too much.  I admit it. I have had to own it for many years. It seems that whenever I’ve been in trouble, talking is the reason.  I said something I shouldn’t have or I said something someone didn’t want to hear, or I spoke out of turn.  Whatever it was, I was very embarrassed by it, but that didn’t change me.  I tried to change but to no avail. Then came a wonderful day when St. Paul bailed me out.  

After being crossed at every turn, criticized by everyone, Jews and Gentiles alike, St. Paul states ‘By the grace of God, I am what I am!’ (1Cor. 15:10)Paul had decided that God has chosen him to spread the message precisely because of his personality not in spite of it.  What a liberating feeling that was! I realized that was probably true for me too. Now, I am an Associate of the Dominican order – Order of Preachers, of course. I got drawn into it not of my own volition, but I love it and I know it is a place I was meant to be. 

For many of us, who we are, what we are, or rather, how we see ourselves is flawed. 

We tend to either over or under estimate ourselves.  We rarely look at the truth.  St. Paul was forced to do that.  He had to look carefully at how he presented himself to others and discern whether he was putting himself first or putting Christ first. 

After he did that, he found the strength and confidence to say in effect, take me as I am because I can’t change and I’m doing my best. 

It is an invitation from God to us to do the same.  Who do we think built the faith?

Peter, John, James, Timothy, Lydia, Lois, Eunice, Bartholomew, to name a few, were ordinary people.  We are ordinary people.  We have exactly the same amount of help that these early Christians had. What’s the difference between us?  They, could not stop themselves from sharing the Good News.  We, got so used to thinking that the clergy proclaimed the Good News, that we lost the evangelization spirit. 

How do we get it back? We get it back by reading the New Testament and following Jesus as he walked the roads of Israel.  We get it back by putting ourselves in the story. We get it back by imagining the scenes, the reactions of the people, and the reactions of the disciples, who must have spent a lot of time in confusion.  As we do this, the charisma of Jesus will take hold of us and the day will come when we will no longer wonder what to say or how to say it.  It will be part of us.  

Here I go, saying somethingagain.  

It is my belief that we should not be trying to fill the pews, but to fill the hearts of people with the desperately needed peace and love of Jesus Christ. 

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin OPA