A matter of trust

I had dinner this past weekend with two college students from our parish. It was a really good time and as they would say, very chill. It took me back to my years as a university chaplain. We enjoyed fun foods and many laughs in the midst of serious conversation. One of the big takeaways for me which was even a topic of the conversation was that they felt comfortable talking with me about serious stuff.

Talking with someone in the Church was the first item on the list from my last post about coming back to the Church. It’s probably the most common entry point for any “revert” (a revert is someone who returns to the practice of his or her own religion while a convert is someone who takes up the practice of a different religion). It’s a matter of trust: if we trust the person with whom we speak, then the door is open to trusting in their beliefs and practices. Also, it helps to have someone who is familiar while you begin to pursue that which is unfamiliar.

This has been the practice even of the saints. A big part of any person becoming a saint has been talking to another saint. Just look at the two greatest saints: Mary and Joseph were each guided considerably by St. Gabriel in taking the first step in doing God’s Will. I know that becoming a saint is probably not on your radar right now - although the goal of life is to get to Heaven and a saint is someone who is in Heaven- but the strategy of talking to a practicing Catholic is historically sound.

You might have heard the description of the Incarnation, “and the Word became flesh”. This describes simply and beautifully the deeply profound mystery of God becoming man in Christ (the Word of God). It also describes someone coming to know Christ through another person.