by Jon Stotts
What's Your Next Step? Think About Your Own Story.
For Catholics, the Christian life is about being gradually drawn into the life of Christ through participation in the Church. This process is not just a matter of interior development, a kind of moral and psychological growth that naturally unfolds from within. Neither is it only a matter of an emerging political or social movement that changes the material relationships within society. Rather, by coming to reveal himself as God the Son, the man Jesus weaves our human story into the intimate life of God, uniting within his Body the unfolding of historical process, personal development, and the movement of the Spirit restoring it all back to God.
- Take a minute or so to reflect on your own story, from its beginning, through its most significant highs and lows, to where your feet are are touching the ground today.
- Then maybe find a sticking point, an idea or feeling that grips you, a place in which the Spirit might be lifting your self-reflection into an encounter with God. Is your birth (or conception) really the beginning of your story? Would the past events you've identified as highs and lows make sense to the You who was experiencing them at the time?
- Finally, consider where and when you connected to the concrete history of God's self-revelation. If you were baptized as a baby, how did this change your life's trajectory? How did participation in various religious traditions form and guide you? What other events have led you to identify more strongly with Jesus of Nazareth?