A "brother in the Lord" as the Protestants say, sent me this quotation.
That in which we have faith is a firm system directed to the salvation of men; and, since it has
been received by the Church, we guard it. Constantly it has its youth renewed by the Spirit of
God, as if it were some precious deposit in and excellent vessel; and it causes the vessel
containing it also to be rejuvenated. St. Irenaeus, d. 202 AD
It is part of a theme here of renewal, youth and choices.
He also reminded me of the Morning Offering we say, in many different versions, in which we ask God to make our lives knew.
Oh, Lord, I offer you this day, all that I do or think or pray, uniting it with what was done, on earth by Jesus Christ Thy Son.
We make choices daily.
I was unfairly fired and chose not to sue the company as it was Catholic.
That was a choice.
I decided to give away most of my things to the poor and to families who could use things for home schooling and live in great simplicity.
That was a choice.
I chose to not take illegal positions offered to me.
.
That was a choice
I chose to leave a place rather than cause someone pain and unease, therefore, causing me pain and suffering on his account.
That was a choice.
I decided not to marry good men when asked as I did not love them. A Christian does not marry merely for comfort or money. Both are millionaires and nice, but that was not God's Will.
Those were choices.
I chose to try the monastery and realized that was not my call.
That was God's choice, but I had to decide and will His Will.
That was a choice.
I chose to follow a radical path to try to become a saint by conforming my mind to the mind of Christ and His Church.
That was a choice, and I remake it daily.
I found out that nothing was important but loving God every minute of the day and letting Him love me.
That realization ended in a choice. Nothing matters but God. Nothing.
Many people cannot make choices. They only respond to stimuli and react. Animals without immortal souls do that. But, such responses have consequences as well. All my choices were made freely and with thought. I am an INTJ. I am not impulsive. I think. I do nothing without much work of the mind and objectivity. I make mistakes, but I own up to those mistakes. I sin, but I admit and beg God to show me these daily, and never want to live in any type of deceit.
Would you not rather choose life than merely respond?
God takes us at our word when we say yes to follow Him.
That is our choice.
A seminarian friend of mine told me today that young people like me. I know this. They like me better than most adults I meet. Why? Because I believe in the ideal of the radical Gospel, I see things always new. Young people are idealists, mostly. They want to be challenged. If one conforms to the world too much. one cannot inspire or teach youth. They can see through the duplicity. To be a saint is to remain youthful in spirit. This does not mean immaturity, but a liveliness of heart and mind which responds to the Love Who is a Person. These are my aspirations. Does not the Pope seem young at heart? The heart of Christ is ever-young. I have a friend who is a catechetist. The youth love him as well. He is genuine and excited by God and in the love of God. They can recognize the real deal.
Young people want to love and be loved. They are searching for Love. What better thing can we do than to bring them to God Who is Love. That is evangelization. And, it is not new.
In the Catholic Church, which is the cohort of the message, there are still those headlong acts of holiness that speak of something rapid and recent; a self-sacrifice that startles the world like a suicide. But it is not a suicide; it is not pessimistic; it is still as optimistic as St. Francis of the flowers and birds. It is newer in spirit than the newest schools of thought; and it is almost certainly on the eve of new triumphs. For these men serve a mother who seems to grow more beautiful as new generations rise up and call her blessed.
We might sometimes fancy that the Church grows younger as the world grows old. G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man
I also remember in a post earlier this year my phrase from Minneapolis in the 1970s."God make new dough-nuts everyday." We who love God are renewed daily. This is a thought so sublime, I can hardly think it.
This is why heaven will be full of young ones-that is, the youth of eternity, in the glorified bodies that will be.
