WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Each of us who ponders this question will be prompted to consider different answers. Our own unique answers will be affected by our stage in life, the point at which we are on our spiritual journey, the business of everyday family life, even the demands or uncertainties of our jobs. At this time of year, the Church calendar invites us to stop and consider where we are going and toward whom we are moving. If we would stop and pause during the rush of this season, we would realize that we are moving toward Bethlehem. Consider the Nativity scene; we can choose to see the cold drab surroundings of a cave, or we can focus, and see the mystical scene or our Savior’s birth, and the miracle that lies within. If we would take the time to remove ourselves form hectic preparations, and instead, imagine ourselves in this place, and kneel in awe – even dare to ask for the privilege of cradling the infant in our arms, we would then immediately feel the graces flowing from this Wonder Child and would instinctively know where we came from and where we are to go.
“Where do we go from here” is also a question very relevant in our world today as we face a turning point in human history – in our Church, our country and in our almost insatiable human desires. We must work harder than ever before to display the light inside each of us, the light given to us at birth, the light that is the reflection of the God that created us, the light we witnessed that illuminated a dark cave.
Actually, the answer is, we go to the same place….we go to Bethlehem, to the Wonder Child and the graces we felt that ignited our spirits and strengthened our resolve to carry on the mission for which that Wonder Child was sent – despite the fear of a downward spiraling society, disintegration of the family and feelings of betrayal by the most trusted in our Church. Didn’t that Child grow up to be betrayed? Didn’t salvation result from overcoming betrayal? Within this church we have everything we need to carry on from here – we have each other, we have The Word, and most of all, we have the Body of Christ – the same Christ we cradled, the same Christ who will never leave us alone as we gone on from here.
Submitted by Marguerite Mullins