Due to the priest rotation in our area, our church holds its evening Ash Wednesday service as a vigil on the Tuesday before. Doubtlessly, many people are confused by this or prefer to go to Kenai on the actual Ash Wednesday, so the turnout is usually quite light (as it was today). I still really liked the homily.
Our pastor shared that many young couples give him superficial reasons for wanting to get married: their potential spouse's job, friends, family, their looks, etc. He asks them what would happen if those things changed about the person. Often people love someone not for who that someone is, but for what they get out of the relationship with that someone. He said that, for many of us, that is our relationship with Jesus. We don't love Jesus for who He is, but for what we hope to get out of the relationship. When things start to not go the way we expect, we then drop that relationship because it was never truly based on love to begin with.
I know that my relationship with Jesus can use work. I ask too often for signs of His love (or even existence) no matter how often He shares it with me. Every time I allow myself to open up to His love I can feel it and see it in the elements of life and love all around me. Yet when things don't go my way, I tend to cut myself off with doubt and misgivings. For that matter, I need to work on all of my relationships.
Our pastor shared that many young couples give him superficial reasons for wanting to get married: their potential spouse's job, friends, family, their looks, etc. He asks them what would happen if those things changed about the person. Often people love someone not for who that someone is, but for what they get out of the relationship with that someone. He said that, for many of us, that is our relationship with Jesus. We don't love Jesus for who He is, but for what we hope to get out of the relationship. When things start to not go the way we expect, we then drop that relationship because it was never truly based on love to begin with.
I know that my relationship with Jesus can use work. I ask too often for signs of His love (or even existence) no matter how often He shares it with me. Every time I allow myself to open up to His love I can feel it and see it in the elements of life and love all around me. Yet when things don't go my way, I tend to cut myself off with doubt and misgivings. For that matter, I need to work on all of my relationships.
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