Search
Father's Reflection 7.9.23
-
Hello all,
Last week, I shared some of my more basic biographical facts to help you know where I am coming from. For the next week or two, I thought I would share more in-depth how Jesus has taken me deeper in my relationship with Him. My hope is that this helps you to know where I am coming from spiritually, and perhaps my experiences may resonate with yours!
Though I was baptized and raised Catholic, even going to Catholic schools all the way through high school, I wouldn’t say I had a “conversion of heart” or a living relationship with Jesus until I got to college at KU. A few turning points that added up powerfully for me:
1. going even early to 9:30pm Sunday Mass at the St. Lawrence Center because of the tangible peace I felt there in contrast to the anxious, unsettled feeling on the rest of campus
2. going on the March for Life in DC with 100 people from the Center that I didn’t know. I was drawn by their joy, authenticity, and deeper sense of community than the superficial relationships I saw around me
3. participating in the biannual retreat at the Center called “Koinonia” (the Greek word for “community”), based on student witness, small groups, casual hang out time, and adoration/confession/Mass. There was a moment when we were together kneeling in adoration, and I actually had the thought, “I think this is going to be an important turning point in my life." From this experience, I felt like I belonged to this community and wanted to spend time with them, even coming to daily Mass just to see friends there
4. following the lead of some of my friends, asking one of the religious sisters stationed on campus to be a spiritual guide for me. I realized I had a lot to learn, especially about how to pray, and I really needed someone wise to share what I was going through who could encourage me and point me in the right direction
5. choosing to spend more intentional prayer time with Jesus every day, not just going to Mass. The four volume meditation books called “In Conversation with God” by Fr. Francis Fernandez helped me to integrate what I heard in the daily Mass readings into daily living and made my faith more concrete
6. reading St. Augustine’s confessions for my Western Civilization class and feeling myself experience a fire of conviction and a conversion of heart along with him as he outlined his surrender to God’s will for his life
7. going to confession and finally naming the specific things I was struggling with that I was afraid to say out loud - from this experience, I felt chains of addiction be broken, and I have been going to confession every week or two ever since.
Everyone’s journey to a deeper, living relationship with Jesus is different and has unique beauty to it. These were a few of the key initial steps in mine, and there is definitely still more to be shared…and more is being written every day!
Please pray for me that I can be a faithful and fruitful new pastor, and I will continue to pray for you every day.
In Jesus’ joy,
Fr. Joel