29 April 2023
Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church
I’ve often wondered what it would’ve been like to have lived in the time of Christ and to have experienced spending time with Him in person. I wonder if I would have been one of the disciples that stayed or one who left and resumed their former way of life. If I’m being completely honest, I’m quite frankly a little uneasy at the prospect that I might not have necessarily made the correct choice depending on the circumstances.
What’s important to focus on is the attitude of the different groups of disciples and how they are orienting themselves in relation to Jesus. Some of them grumbled that Jesus’ new teaching was difficult but let’s face it, it wasn’t difficult just for some of them. This new doctrine was unlike anything that they had heard before and it didn’t seem to make sense in the context of their cultural worldview. So many of them left. But many stayed. And I wonder how many of those that walked away that day might have come back to the community of the faithful after the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Regardless, a key takeaway is the necessity of openness to God. We cannot always assume that everything that He’s going to do in our lives is going to make perfect sense immediately. It’s also a major mistake to limit what one thinks is possible for God based on one’s prior experiences. We have to recognize that we cannot limit the infinitude of God into our own finite preconceptions. If we do, we risk putting ourselves in the same position of the disciples who walked away. We have to be open to allowing Him to work anew in our hearts each and every day in order to be properly disposed to receive the graces and gifts He desires to give us.