THURSDAY OF THE TWELFTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
"I never knew you."
Climbing up and up and up, Snow King Mountain this morning. I could not stop thinking about those words. "I never knew you." How can that be Lord? I love you.
Then my mind wandered as it always does during my talks with God. I thought about my kids at St. Theodore, my kids at St. George, my kids at OLQH, literally running through long lists of their names and faces in my mind. I was thinking about how each one of them was so special to me and how blessed I was to share my love for the Lord with them—watching them grow into young men and women of faith. Lord, I know you because I see you in them.
My thoughts returned to the words of the Gospel ...
If we listen to His words and act on them, we will be like the wise man who built his house on rock, solidly set so that the floods and wind will not collapse it. My mind drifted back again to a homily from Bishop Provost to my first class of Confirmandi. I remember thinking at the time how brilliant that homily was as he compared the essential qualities of building an actual home to building a spiritual home.
I can think of a time before I was a youth minister. I didn't know the Lord. I only knew about Him. But I built a spiritual life, board by board, praying with Christ, and getting to know Him.
I do not claim to have done any mighty deeds or driven out demons or prophesied in your name. But, Lord, I see you in others, I see you acting in my life and others' lives. I hear you call my name, and I answer, "Here I am, Lord. Speak, for your servant is listening."
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