At the Temple of Yu Fei in Hangzhou, China, a student approached me to practice her English. She pointed to a nearby tree and proudly told me that it was over 700 years old. We were standing outside of a temple built in honor of a twelfth century military hero, but I wasn’t aware that I was standing on the precipice of history until that moment. I gazed at the calloused bark and realized that the tree was older than my country.
China prides itself on its ancient heritage. During my time there, I was immersed in artifacts and traditions that spanned generations and could be traced back to early dynasties. Its legacy gives the country a dimension that is smoothed flat in a young country like the US.
Last week, Father Albert Haase, OFM, came to our church to lead our parish mission. His topic was the sign of the cross. As he invited us to cross ourselves at the start of his homily, he said that Christians have been making this gesture for 1,800 years. The number echoed in the air, too big to grasp. In the Catholic Church, like ancient China, I have roots that penetrate deep.
Father Albert and I also share common roots in our fascination with China. He served there as a missionary for eleven years and describes that opportunity as a great grace. After mass last Sunday, he smiled when I told him about my two trips to China and the five years I’ve spent learning the language. I showed him a picture of the cathedral in Beijing where I spent my first Easter away from home. Now, he was here at my home parish to lead us through our pre-Lenten journey.
In the book Saying Yes: Discovering and Responding to God’s Will in Your Life, Father Albert reminds us that we are shaped by our past. As we adopt an attitude of discernment, we are aware of how our past affects our tendencies and inclinations. Father Albert remembers once, as a young boy, seeing an image of a Franciscan friar crossing a river in China on the back of an animal. That image inspired a dream that came true later in his life when the General Minister of the Franciscan Order asked for volunteers to minister to the Chinese.
In the light of our past, discernment unfolds in the present moment. God speaks to us in the small, mundane moments of each day and the people we meet. He speaks to us through our life. Discernment, then, is engaging in that conversation and our evolving role in God’s great plan.
God doesn’t have a preset mold for us to fill. Our future is uncertain and yet dawning with possibility. Discernment requires humility and trust as God reaches out to us, like the suitor in Father Albert’s story who tells the blind maiden, “Can you come to trust me enough to lead you through your darkness into tomorrow?”
We end our prayer with the sign of the cross, Father Albert says, with our hands moving east to west like the path of the sun.
Last week, Father Albert Haase, OFM, came to our church to lead our parish mission. His topic was the sign of the cross. As he invited us to cross ourselves at the start of his homily, he said that Christians have been making this gesture for 1,800 years. The number echoed in the air, too big to grasp. In the Catholic Church, like ancient China, I have roots that penetrate deep.
Father Albert and I also share common roots in our fascination with China. He served there as a missionary for eleven years and describes that opportunity as a great grace. After mass last Sunday, he smiled when I told him about my two trips to China and the five years I’ve spent learning the language. I showed him a picture of the cathedral in Beijing where I spent my first Easter away from home. Now, he was here at my home parish to lead us through our pre-Lenten journey.
In the book Saying Yes: Discovering and Responding to God’s Will in Your Life, Father Albert reminds us that we are shaped by our past. As we adopt an attitude of discernment, we are aware of how our past affects our tendencies and inclinations. Father Albert remembers once, as a young boy, seeing an image of a Franciscan friar crossing a river in China on the back of an animal. That image inspired a dream that came true later in his life when the General Minister of the Franciscan Order asked for volunteers to minister to the Chinese.
In the light of our past, discernment unfolds in the present moment. God speaks to us in the small, mundane moments of each day and the people we meet. He speaks to us through our life. Discernment, then, is engaging in that conversation and our evolving role in God’s great plan.
God doesn’t have a preset mold for us to fill. Our future is uncertain and yet dawning with possibility. Discernment requires humility and trust as God reaches out to us, like the suitor in Father Albert’s story who tells the blind maiden, “Can you come to trust me enough to lead you through your darkness into tomorrow?”
We end our prayer with the sign of the cross, Father Albert says, with our hands moving east to west like the path of the sun.