A Bigger Picture

Friends of Faith:

Many of you know that for the past 2 ½ years I have been attending Diaconate formation classes every other Saturday with Stan (part of a 4 ½ year formal discernment and formation process to be ordained as a Deacon in the Catholic Church). And you probably have suspected that some of my reflections come from this experience.

Much like my Sunday homily notes, my notes from these classes are starred and underlined with years of reflection material that this once a week writing will never thoroughly reflect upon.

My notes can never fully capture all the who, what, when, where, why’s or how’s of God, of Jesus, or of the Spirit of the Church. Because to capture approximately 4,000 years of history before God sent His son, or another 2,000 years of church history since Jesus arrived, is a much bigger picture than any of us individually have the time, energy or brain to absorb, or that any book (even the Bible) could contain.

Only God has the power to see the big picture. Only God is big enough to design and hold together that picture.

“And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,^* to the extent of the full stature of Christ, so that we may no longer be infants, tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human trickery, from their cunning in the interests of deceitful scheming. Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, with the proper functioning of each part, brings about the body’s growth and builds itself up in love.” Eph 4: 11-16

And what happens when we think we know the big picture?

Our instructor this Saturday said, “In terms of our witness to the world Christian division is scandalous.”

If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. Mk 3: 24-25

So with each passing day I search for the bigger picture to be revealed to me. I search not to be swayed by the devil’s work that tries to divide, scandalize and reform the Church beyond recognition. I seek discernment through prayer, through partaking of the Sacraments, and through continual learning of Church history—especially that of the very early Church. And I strive to avoid political rhetoric and social posturing which makes government (the people) believe they can become bigger than God, or a god by themselves.

Heavenly Father: Thank you for allowing me the time to spend in instruction and formation with those who have been equipped for ministry, and with those who are being trained for building up the body of Christ.  I yearn for total unity and true maturity of my own faith. And I hope that each of my Christian brothers and sisters will never stop seeking the bigger picture and will take full advantage of the tools (Sacraments) and the grace that your Son was sent to bring to us through the Church he left behind. Amen.

Pray constantly and seek to find unity through love.

It is the devil’s work to divide us. Jesus Christ left us His Church to unite us.
 God is the ultimate artist and He is wants each of us to unite to be a part of the big picture he designed.
Blessings and Happy Thanksgiving,
Charlotte