Just show up

We read a section from Giussani's Why the Church? last week which was, as usual, well-timed in my life. (Wave has commented on that before- so many times, books sit on your shelf until just the right moment.)

Giussani described a worker who comes before his boss (he travels far to get there), and just stands there wringing his hat, barely able to say a word. But just the fact that he's there speaks volumes to the landlord/boss person. (I'm oh-so-eloquent today)

Anyway, point is... that's basically all we are before the Lord; mendicants begging for we-don't-even-know-what. Think about that image for a while; it's so beautiful. See someone with kinda ratty clothes, kine dirty... just playing with his hat and sheepish. Obviously there's a big dis-analogy... Jesus is Jesus after all so we're a lot "lower" compared to Him than any man to his boss.

Gosh I'm not getting far today.

Anyway, one of the men in our group talked about how much he loved the image and how it's so beautiful that really all we have to do is show up. He mentioned how the Church asks her children to come to communion at least once a year- at Easter.

"Just show up, once a year, just show up; He'll do the rest" is how he put it. Can't you hear her? "Please," the Church says, "You are mine, you belong to me... come home, I love you." Like any good mother; If once a year is all she gets to see you, she'll be really glad to see you.

My mom would always get huffy about the "twice-a-year-Catholics" who crowded the Church on Christmas and Easter. She was always annoyed by it, every year, and for so long I would have agreed and been annoyed too. Who do they think they are? Show up twice a year, think that's good enough.

Thing is... what's good enough?

This new perspective is so good for me... I hope that the full Churches at Christmas and Easter will always give my heart joy rather than irritation. How great is the mercy of our God, who calls people continuously, constantly asking them to come to Him. At least once a year, a lot of people listen. They do it. And even if they don't get it, He gets them.

There, in His presence, for an hour.

There's a lot God can do in an hour, I think.