Garden of Olives, Jerusalem, Israel
If I had a penny for every time my spiritual director over the years has told me “all things Christ,” I would be a very rich woman indeed. Even after all the years of meeting for spiritual guidance, our sessions inevitably end up with him reminding me to keep my eyes on Christ, who is the “leader and perfecter of faith” (Heb 12:2). It’s not that he is trying to minimize any particular struggle or question I might be facing. It’s just that he is helping me to grow closer to Christ no matter what my circumstances by helping me to see that, in the end, it’s all about Jesus.
My spiritual director’s regular short, but poignant words of wisdom hit me smack between the eyes and in the depths of my heart and soul during a recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I’ve had the privilege of walking in the footsteps of Christ many times. But this time it was different, and it had to do directly with the way I was feeling about the abuse crisis in the Church.
Like many Catholics trying to be faithful, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and somewhat worn out. I knew I needed to go back to Galilee, Bethlehem and Jerusalem to take a step back and look at the big picture. I needed to remind myself of where we came from as a Church founded by Christ in the region of Caesarea Philippi. I needed to once again stand at the foot of what once was a pagan temple to the false god Pan; the area where Jesus brought the apostles and asked the famous “who do you say that I am” question as he proceeded to tell them that he was the true shepherd who came to build the one true Church.
And while the many stops we made on this pilgrimage to the various places where Jesus preached, lived and performed countless miracles were extremely meaningful, I was touched even more deeply by something that is normally a major turn-off… Continue Reading at OSV Newsweekly.
