Reality.

This is the story of my life before Jesus. You will find that this story will bump right into the end of my first witness that I posted on here, entitled "I was raised Catholic...But."

When I was young I believed in Santa Claus. I was the last person in my family to still believe in him. I could have cared less about the Easter bunny or the tooth fairy, Christmas was so much better. A time filled with wonder and joy and of course, presents! As I grew older, for one reason or another, I came to no longer believe in the existence of Santa. It was a bitter betrayal of my childhood, but also a sobering wake-up call for me, and with it, I took my first step into reality.

In 5th grade, I fell in love. We dated for about six months, but it didn't work out, and honestly, I wasn't hurt, it was a superficial relationship. For the next three years, I would "go out" with girls on and off, always breaking up within a month or two. Dating was a game to keep me from getting bored in school, and so when dating got boring, well, you get the idea. Things like kissing and sex became, in my mind, like achievements you earned once you learned how to play the game better. The best I ever did was a few truth or dare kisses and a bunch of broken hearts that stopped believing in true love. With that, I had took my second step into reality.

In the 7th grade, I immersed myself into the coolest and preppiest group of people in junior high. I felt like I belonged because I could joke with them and they joked with me... well, actually, they just made fun of me, and I laughed and excused it as friendship. "That's just what friends do," I told myself.

This was my third step into reality, into the real world, where faith is for fairy tales, love is a game, and friends make fun of each other...

After a while, I stopped dating. I wasn't very good at the game, and I told myself it was because I wasn't the handsome, athletic, funny guy that every girl seemed to want. I would never be that guy.
For a time, I silently tolerated the daily barrage of jokes and sugar-coated insults from my "friends" that only made feel smaller and smaller and smaller. I never said the right thing, my jokes weren't funny, and I was weird. To this day, I haven't gotten over that... In every social situation, the words awkward and weird still taunt me... I would never be cool.

But you know what? God had a different plan for me, a plan so much greater than one I could ever imagine myself, so much greater than being cool or handsome in this world. God called me to be a priest. But in a sense, He called me to so much more than that. He called me to be a knight, to defend the glorious kingdom of heaven, fighting off the Devil with the power of God, and saving souls for the king. He called me to be a prince, to wear a crown, to leave behind my insecurities and downfalls, and to be with Him forever in an amazing kingdom. He called me to be a leader. No, a light. A light in a world, in this reality, where darkness overwhelms us and steals away our love.

God, our God, called upon a sinner, upon a weak kid, who, like many others today, had been taught ideas about faith, love, and friendship that were false, selfish, and cruel. And do you know what happened? He gave that kid the gift of faith to believe in a power greater than himself, to fight for that power, because that power is love, and God is Love. 

Read what the Holy Spirit has to say about all this. Read the whole thing, it's good stuff. 

Ephesians 2:1-10

And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 

But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God -- not because of works, lest any man should boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

(Sigh) Scripture is wonderful. If I was feeling spunky, I would ask for an amen, but I think that's sort of a given.

Alright, the final chapter. Please listen to what I feel I need to say, what is always on my heart when I write. What I have received in my life is special, but it's not exclusive. The fact of the matter is, God is calling all of us. Maybe not to the religious life, but He is calling us to holiness. Hear his voice through my words, hear Him calling you to greatness! And remember the words from Sunday's Gospel:

"Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

Luke 12

We, brothers and sisters, have been entrusted with a calling. A calling that challenges what we hear everyday! Can you hear it? With God, we are capable of rising as a strong and faithful generation of Christian followers who will spread love and light.
What we have seen in our experiences and encounters on retreats and at camp or conferences during adoration and mass have been glimpses of the future kingdom that awaits us, and it is time to start living like we truly believe that. Say yes to holiness today, say yes to God.

God Bless,
Alex

walexfry@sbcglobal.net