The Parish Mission

So yesterday was the start of the Parish Mission. What is a Parish Mission you ask? A Catholic revival service! Start with some music, go to some prayers, and then about an hour or so of preaching. Finish with prayer and music again. Oh-but no fire and brimstone. :)

Last night's topic was God is love. We even chanted it aloud together. Maybe 200-300 people there. Good sound. And Fr. T is a compelling speaker. So some thoughts he shared that I am now musing on.

"You will never be closer to God than you are right now" --More on this in a minute.

"We all judge other people--but why? That is the important question as it reveals a need in our lives."

"We all have addictions. To live and be human is to be addicted to something. Addictive behavior is the one universal human condition."

"There is a statue of limitations on the blaming of parents for your life's problems." --this said to an 81 year old woman who was blaming her mom for why she was addicted to alcohol.

"The only way to experience God's grace is to keep our addictions in front of us at all times. This keeps us humble and open to God's love, mercy and grace in our lives"

"For most people, before they can allow God's love to truly touch their lives and change them, they must be humbled before others. This maybe very public or just a few close friends and family, but God will get our attention to show us his love."



So the quote at the top--"you will never be closer to God than you are right now." Kind of scared me a bit. As I am not feeling all that close to Him. But Fr. T went on to explain. We say and believe the Holy Spirit (God) lives in us. That God is everywhere. That God is closer to us than the marrow of our bones. So why do we say we need to get closer to God? That is as close as we can get us living breathing human beings. We need to be more aware of God, yes. But God is already as close as He can be.

OK--I get that--kind of..I think that is the topic of tonight--how to be aware of God in our lives. Followed by Reconciliation on Tuesday and Eucharist on Wednesday.

Choir sings again on Wednesday-but I plan to go all week. Some of the topics seem to hit close to where I am calling home these days. Like the judgment quote. I have been doing a fair amount of that with my parents. So why am I so judgmental of them? Still pondering that one. And what need in my life will that reveal?

And the being humbled before others--I get that one way too well. So here I am God--show me your love.