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Prayers on the Railroad, Spiritual Visitation
How good is the life of God in us and how great is His power. This thought came to mind as I read a draft of this edition [Fall 1999] of The Parish Visitor and reflected upon the lives of two young men who were sitting next to me on a recent train trip. What a contrast between their lives and our life.
The men had just met and began sharing their life situations. Both were searching for a meaning in life and for happiness, but a happiness devoid of Christian morals. Yet, the goodness of God did show itself in their openness and kindness to each other and toward those they discussed.
The climax of their conversation came when one asked the other about his girlfriend, "Are you planning on living with her before you get married?"
"Yes," he said. "Everybody says that’s the only way I can get to really know her. Everybody, but my mother." He had been raised in a strong Catholic atmosphere.
I began to pray for them. I would have liked to have been the third person in their conversation and been able to present the Lord’s wisdom and love to them, but no opportunity came in which I could impose myself in their private conversation. Instead of my being the "third person," I would rely upon the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity.
I wanted to ask if anyone had ever loved them so dearly and nobly that they became more fully themselves from it. Such love would permit them to reveal things about themselves that they could never have revealed to one who loved them less.
Only by really loving the girl you want to marry can you get to know her. This means entrusting your life to her forever and not asking her to give herself to you on a trial basis! Only that kind of trust and declaration about the value of her person will enable her to reveal to you the real person she is and even discover it for herself.
If you say, "Come and live with me so that I can see if you suit me day in and day ou; let me see if I can put up with your limitations and idiosyncrasies; let me see if you still appeal to me after a few months," then what you are really saying is obvious. It is you whom you are thinking of, and not the girl you claim to love, and not any child that might result from your living together. You are not even near to wondering what this break of faithfulness to God and His covenant may mean for her (or even yourself!).
The trial relationship puts a person on the same level as a thing that he might like to have and use in any way he wants. What an unspoken and perhaps unconscious message that gives to the "beloved" about herself or [himself]. Imagine the cruel arrogance that steals into the interior of the one who is "shopping around" sexually.
God has loved us as our Father, our Life-Giver, giving us dignity and value beyond measure! He is jealous to see that this goodness that we are is not violated, abused, or used for selfish purposes. He knows we are thirsting for love…love that would die to secure our happiness…love that thinks not of itself but only of the beloved’s welfare. He knows that we are often willing to accept less that can bring destruction and misery, but he will never water down the truth about what is really for our good and what is not.
At the cost of His very life, God the Son made sure that we would be revered, honored, and loved as we were made to be and nothing less. Surely, the young man and his girlfriend are worthy of this love, love proven upon a cross and given forever.
by Sister Carole Marie, P.V.M.I.
From The Parish Visitor, Autumn 1999 issue. Used with permission.
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