Daily I receive a quote written by Pope Francis. Today his words resonated in my mind and heart. I would like to share it with you and allow you to reflect on it.
“To live by Jesus, to live by the Gospel, one must come out of oneself. We felt spurred on to go out to the sea, to leave the comfortable shores of our safe harbors to enter deep waters; not into the marshy waters of ideologies, but the open sea in which the Spirit invites us to cast our nets.” (Pope Francis)
The first words that caught my attention were ‘one must come out of oneself.’ Are there times in your life where you think the world revolves around you? I can surely list a few. When you really think about it, the invitation to leave the comfortable shores can bring some anxiety with it. Living like Jesus can be very challenging IF we NOT He is the center of our lives.
Do I/we sometimes get stuck in the ‘marshy waters of ideology’? It’s easy to talk a good talk but can we walk the walk? Although challenging, the way to live by the Gospel as Jesus taught us is simple. It is we who complicate it. We need to love God with our whole heart, mind, and soul. And we need to love our neighbor as ourselves.
What are some of the risks I take when I go out into the ‘open sea’? Like the prophets of old, what I say might not be popular, and so I risk rejection. The spirit may call me to change some of my opinions, ideas, or ways of doing things, but can I change? Moving from a comfortable place can really be difficult. But am I willing to go where the Spirit lives and is leading me?
We live in challenging times and the Gospel is so counter cultural, can I transcend the challenges and keep Jesus as the center of my life and go out into the DEEP? Make some extra time for yourself in prayer and take our Pope’s words to heart.
Till next week,
Sister Theresita Donach
