kaboom

God is good. All the time.

I took two high schoolers from my youth group on retreat this weekend. The retreat was one that a team of youth ministers puts on every year, but being new to the area, I didn't really know what to expect. What I got was this: 250 (I think) high school students praising God, dancing around like fools, diving deeper into their faith, making new friends, eating TONS of food, and spending quality time with the Timeless One. All in all, it was an amazing weekend.

I had my own experience this weekend too, though, which resulted in one of those GOD JUST PUNCHED ME IN THE FACE moments. I'd like to share a bit about what happened.

Last night, we had Eucharistic Adoration for two hours while teens and adult leaders received the Sacrament of Reconciliation in separate side rooms. We ended the night with Benediction and then had some serious fun for a couple of hours. But I'd like to back up...before the fun started, before Benediction, before I even went to Confession. At one point, as I knelt in front of the Blessed Sacrament exposed in the monstrance, I really felt like God was putting a Scripture passage on my heart, so I found myself flipping to Colossians 1:15-20. This is a little passage talking about Christ's role in the creation of the universe. (Haha, it sounds so simple...) The second part of verse 16 really stuck out to me, though: "All things have been created through Him and for Him."

So I got to thinking. What if this isn't just a general thought? What if...what if God created wheat simply because God knew that it would be made into bread, so that one day, Jesus would use bread to reveal Himself to us in the Eucharist and sustain us in our love for God? What if all those good things like muffins and cookies and other bread were just an added bonus to the ultimate nourishment we receive in the Eucharist?

What if?

And what if we take that a step further: is it that hard to believe that God wold have created each of us specifically for one moment in our lives when we would reveal something about Christ to those around us, whether we realized it or not? That one seemingly insignificant moment of kindness or faith or compassion (or even just plain common courtesy) might set off a series of events which have a dramatic impact on the entire world? That the sorrows and joys, the pain and rejoicing, our feelings and experiences...that all of that might be an added bonus to the fact that we made a difference in that one moment when God worked through our humanity in an utterly unique, utterly world-shaking way? And then I started wondering...

What about my "one moment"? Has it already happened? Did it happen the moment I was born? Or will it happen just before I die? Was it sometime this weekend as I spent time with the youth from my parish? Could it be the next time I go grocery shopping?

Live as if this were your moment. Because really, who knows? Maybe this is the one moment you were created for. Blessings and peace to you all! I love you dearly!