What a WEEK

I am taking a few minutes to share with you, without any pictures yet, the wonderful family reunion I had with the St James Group last weekend. We laughed and laughed and talked and talked and the best part of the sharing was being able to receive The Eucharist together. What an incredibly Saturday night.

Sunday was sleep day. Monday was work day. Monday NIGHT was RCIA -

I got to teach the Inquiry Class on Monday night and wouldn't you know it? No one had warned me that one of our new inquirerers (is that a word? whatever) is a graduate student in philosophy. Great. I wanted to point to the other room, where Nathan was teaching Moral Theology to the Catechumate, and say, "Go bother him". However, my fear was unwarranted. This young man, with his fluffy ponytail, baggy shorts and backpack full of books is gentle, kind and seriously searching for Truth. He became interested in Catholicism because of his study of philosophy. Like me, he became discouraged by the insistence of modern philosophers that Objective Truth is not a reality. Unlike me, he also became disillusioned with the standard Protestant idea of the basic depravity of mankind. Apparently, some experience in his life demonstrated to him the fallacy of that belief which is, if you think about it, amazing in itself. I can see why people would be drawn to that idea...afterall, it is not as though there are not enough examples all around us that we could point to as proof that human beings stink like the dung heaps Martin Luther used to describe us and the covering of grace is what makes us halfway ok.

The problem is, of course, is that grace that is snow melts and just makes the dung stinkier.

The Catholic position is different - we are not depraved, we are wounded. It is very similar to the philosophy of AA which is that we are not bad people trying to be good; rather we are sick people trying to get well. Of course, some of us are bad people who are also sick but that is another train of thought and it is too early in the morning for me to try and sort all that out.

The idea that I am a wounded healer allows me to bring my dark past into the light and use it for good. The idea that I fight against a tendency to sin but that ultimately I am drawn instinctively towards love, towards light, towards Truth is something that seems more realistic to me. It would explain, for instance, why my father could be such a jerk and yet still be willing to take a 2nd grader to see the President of the United States as he drove by or walk through old cemeteries with one of his kids looking at markers or bring a freshly barbecued steak to the hospital when she complained about the food. It makes more sense.

Anyway, the next shift is on its way into the building. I will try and write more later but for now, let me just say, "I AM SO GLAD IT IS WEDNESDAY".....

God is good.....all the time.