Appreciation
It was my distinct honor today to be able to serve as
deacon at St. Jude in Green Bay on this Divine Mercy Sunday. As an added blessing, seven children made
their First Holy Communion. There is so
much to appreciate and be appreciative for.
I remember well my own First Communion in this same
church, dare I say it, 59 years ago. I
recall the celebration that followed in the church hall afterwards. I close my eyes and there I am in the group
photograph with my fresh crewcut haircut, crisp white shirt, clip-on bow tie
and my serious look. I know I sensed the
importance of the event, even if I did not fully comprehend or appreciate exactly
what the sacrament was all about in the moment.
Actually, at this point in my life I have received all seven sacraments, and if honest, I only truly appreciated the last two as they were happening – Holy Orders when I was ordained a deacon nearly 16 years ago, and the Anointing of the Sick about ten years ago when I was stricken with appendicitis while on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. Even in those cases, the thing that I truly appreciated and trusted, was that the Holy Spirit was at work and that each of those sacraments were imparting graces far beyond what I could have even hoped for. For most of us, we need the experiences of time and life to more fully appreciate the blessings we have lived, especially the blessings of the Sacraments.
I started becoming aware after Michelle and I were
long married – likely it was around our 25th anniversary by when we
had experienced the reality of what life and marriage in the Lord can and does
bring you, that I admitted out loud that while I thought I was extremely mature
and ready for marriage on that day in 1980, I didn’t really have a clue of the depth of beauty, the challenge, the preciousness, of the love that God was calling us into –
not just our relationship with each other, which is what I know I thought matrimony
was all about – but our relationship that God was calling us into with
Him. It is only when Jesus is the source
of your love for each other, that you can even hope to continue to grow in love
with God, with your spouse and with your children.
So, I recognized in the faces of these children, the timidness
of knowing all eyes were on them as they stepped forward, the concern in each
face as they tried hard to remember all they were supposed to say and do, and
the innocence of the moment. None of
them, no matter how well they were catechized, really understand and appreciate
today what the Lord has done and will do for them. My prayer is that they each nurture an open
heart that continues to seek and listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit,
and that they live a lifetime drawing closer and closer to Him. May God bless the good work that He has begun
in them.
His Peace <><
Deacon Dan
Photo by Josh Applegate on Unsplash
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