As we continue our journey in the Advent season and soon the Christmas season, I am reminded of the reality that God IS with us. Are we with God enough to recognize his love, presence and many graces? I learned as a kid that all I needed to do was be present, open and disposed to let God dwell within me to discover Emmanuel—God is with us. It was in the times of silence, deep pondering, praying, going to church every Sunday, Confession and being actively engaged in Mass, especially as an altar server, lector and extraordinary minister of holy Communion, but it started early on, even in the midst of ordinary things like nature, school and life on the farm.
One of my favorite things to do is to “fall in love.” Now, I better qualify what I mean, of course. People sometimes ask me: what do you like to do in your free time? I tell them one of my favorite things to do is to be in nature, to take a good spiritual book and spend time falling in love with God by receiving his love and supernatural graces. As one spends time in silence, whether in nature or other preferred places that dispose us to the reality of God’s love, it leads us deeper into the reality of love in and for the truths in Scripture, the Holy Eucharist or other sacraments God blesses us with.
Falling in love started when I was very young. There were times when I’d sneak off into the woods when I was supposed to be doing chores and ponder the things of life. Something would move in my heart. I didn’t know what it was, of course, at the time, but I would later come to discover it was charity—God’s love. He was loving me and I was able to know and feel his love in the deepest part of my being: my heart. It also happened to me when I would draw close to the altar when serving Mass. Something was happening in my heart and in my mind, because I knew what was happening on the altar.
How does one come to such things? By the grace of God and being open to the graces and supernatural gifts and virtues God gives us.
Wisdom is one of the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit. It disposes us to order everything in our lives according to that which is eternally true and good. It disposes us to fall in love with God. It helps us order things in our minds. We eventually realize the divine truths are all that really matter, which in turn helps us order everything else in this life according to what is eternally good, true and beautiful.
Drawing close to the altar, Mass and adoration, we discover there is an incredible manifestation of God’s love in Scripture and Tradition where God has revealed himself. So, it’s important that we take time to pray so those gifts of knowledge and understanding help us penetrate the divine truths. Wisdom helps us rightly order everything and helps us move from the knowledge of our mind to the interior experience of loving friendship with God and from there, loving friendship with others.
Let me give you an image to help put it in perspective. In the small little country-like parish where I grew up, there was a mural of Jesus with the Holy Eucharist. On the right and the left were the two men on the road to Emaus. You may remember that story from Scripture where the two men had just seen all that had happened in Jerusalem. They were so hopeful of Jesus, this great Savior, and all the things that were going to happen, and he was going to rule in this world. Then the Crucifixion happened, and they were downtrodden. And he comes into their midst because he’s motivated by love for them. And as he starts to repeat the Scriptures to them, they said, “Were not our hearts burning within us?” Charity! He was moving their hearts by enlightening their minds through the Scriptures!
I can only imagine the beautiful supernatural gifts of understanding and knowledge they received. All of a sudden they were beginning to see it was all supposed to be this way. That is, after the fall of Adam and Eve, this was the plan of salvation. But sometimes it’s so hard to understand. That’s why we need the supernatural gifts, the Holy Spirit, like understanding, knowledge and all the rest.
And that beautiful gift of wisdom then helps us move from what we know in the mind to realize the greatest of all is falling in love by receiving God’s supernatural gift of charity for us personally. And the Eucharist is that manifestation where their eyes were opened and they experienced God himself in the Holy Eucharist.
