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Meet My Friend. His Name is Jesus.
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March 27, 2022I am a cradle Catholic, born and raised in a family where weekend Mass was not optional and our church family was truly an extension of our own family. This might lead one to think that I would have, consequently, anticipated the early moments of cradling my newborn baby in my arms for the first time outside of the womb, to be nothing less than God-filled. Flash back to that time in my life, however, and I admit I had an on-again, off-again kind of friendship with Jesus. My faith was mostly duty and obligation.
Though I could not articulate it at the time, something undeniably profound happened in those early baby moments. I knew instinctively that it was something big and from deep within me. But it also felt mysteriously from outside of me, other world-like. I was filled to overflowing with love, but also surprised by how different it felt. This was a new kind of love that I had not known before. It was strangely peaceful and quiet, like all was suddenly right in the universe.
What I felt was not a blind love. In those moments I saw very clearly the dichotomy of joy and sorrow; of challenge and triumph; the best and the worst of all the unknowns to come. I understood that the more I loved this baby, the harder I would fall when something not good happened to her. I knew that this new love that I was feeling was the glue for all the ups and downs in life to come.
What I did not know at the time (or at least I did not admit it), was that I was meeting my old friend, Jesus, anew in those early moments.
As new parents, my husband and I believed that parenting was not something to attempt on our own, without Christ. As we raised our growing family in the traditions of the Catholic faith, we grew deeper in God’s love, trusting in his plan and accepting the mystery of his graces.
Flash forward 35 years and I recall, with surprising intensity, my emotions when cradling each of our three children in those early moments after birth. Over time, I see more clearly the real presence of Christ at each of those blessed events, as well as in simple, everyday moments. Today, I cannot deny that my capacity to love and to be loved flows from Christ. I give him full credit.
My faith is still transforming. Today, my faith is less and less about duty and obligation, and more and more about gratitude and a genuine sense of living a very privileged way of life in Christ. Sometimes the reality of life can wedge itself between me and my friend, Jesus. That is when I need to be mindful about being a good friend to Jesus. He is a trustworthy friend to me, patient and loving. Always inviting me, and you, into deeper friendship.
