Embrace the Holy Moments

This week at Mass you will hear a message you’ve likely heard many times before.  Jesus says in the gospel, “I give you a new commandment: love one another.  As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.  This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another”.  Sounds easy enough right?  Since we are still in the Easter season, I’ll flash back to my favorite Mass of the year; Holy Thursday.  This is such a powerful Mass and message, I’ve never understood why this is not a Holy day of obligation.  This is the Mass where Jesus washes the feet of his disciples with a similar message usually sung by our choir and always makes me tear up.  The lyrics go something like this “do you know what I have done for you… if I have washed your feet, so you must do as I have done for you”.  It’s such a message of humility and love.  I’ve been fortunate to watch my children have their feet washed over the past couple years and it was one of the best teaching moments (sadly, I can’t take credit for that one).

I try to be attentive to my faith but the Advent and Lent seasons always give me an opportunity to hit the reset button and reorder my priorities.  This usually comes in the form of an email from Dynamic Catholic or a self-paced online retreat with 30 minute videos of speakers on different topics.  This year I gave up radio on my drive to work in exchange for Relevant Radio.  I learned so much and actually didn’t miss the daily bickering that went on with my usual sports talk show.  One of the takeaways for me this Lent was from Matthew Kelly.  I believe the idea comes from his book “The greatest lie in the history of Christianity”.  It’s the notion of “Holy moments” and that sainthood can be achieved by creating holy moments each day, some days maybe more than just one.  I believe creating holy moments more often than not requires us to love one another; this can come in many forms.  Praying for someone is us loving one another.  I recently had a friend and coworker pass away from cancer.  I prayed not just for her healing but also prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide and comfort her and her family.  One day near the end of her battle, I text a mutual friend and declared, “what a great day to pray for Trish!  Today is the feast day of St. Joseph, patron saint of departing souls”.  Little did I know this mutual friend has just received the call that Trish had passed.  Praying for Trish and her family is something I continue to do daily and my form of loving one another. 

Not too long ago, I was walking into South shore medical for an appointment and there was a man walking in at the same time.  We were both looking at this car that was parked so crookedly it was comical so we had a good laugh.  After my appointment, I was walking out to the parking lot and this elderly man was just starting to cross the cross walk and was clearly struggling and uneasy on his feet.  I thought “here is my holy moment”!  I walked right up next to him and looped my arm in his.  As we walked to his car, it turned out his car was the one that was parked sideways.  He was such a delight to talk to, he kept stopping in the middle of the cross walk to tell his stories, holding up traffic and not caring.  We laughed all the way to his car where I assisted him in getting in and shutting his door.   

Holy moments are sometimes a bit more subtle.  When I wake up a little irritable, it’s easy to take that out on others around me.  When I choose to love despite my grumpiness, it starts my kids and husbands day off on a better note and ultimately turns me around too.  This may not appear to be a holy moment but trust me, my husband and kids would beg to differ.  A more recent holy moment was when my Mother in law was cleaning out her fish pond.  It was the end of the day and finishing up 8 hours of weeding and mulching.  My back was aching.  I saw my Mother in law still back struggling with this project and had to go help her finish it up, despite how much I wanted to get off my feet.  Holy?  Maybe not… loving one another?  Most certainly. 

Holy moments usually take time and they sometimes take effort or sacrifice but 9/10 times I end up benefiting from the holy moments as much as the person I’m attempting to assist or pray for.  Loving one another is contagious.  Being on the lookout for holy moments will inevitably fulfill Jesus’s wish for us to love one another.  I continue to seek out holy moments and am hopeful if I can string enough of them together over my lifetime, canonization may be a long shot but I am hoping for heaven! 

Reflection by Joanna BIshop