The Big Picture

Dear Parishioners,

Sometimes we can go through life without seeing the “big picture.”  What I mean is that we can often go on just doing whatever we are doing—not giving matters much thought--until we are forced to confront our own existence and mortality by things such as the death of a loved one, sickness, the loss of job or financial troubles, a natural disaster or tragic accident, etc. 

To make ourselves more aware of the “meaning” of these varied occurrences, we need to remind ourselves of the nature and purpose of our existence.  We need to spiritualize the things that happen to us.

A math professor in college used to come into our class and regularly ask two questions:  Where are we?  Where are we going?

As a human being, created in the image and likeness of God (with intelligence and free will), we are here on earth.  Our ultimate goal or purpose in life is to return to God, our Creator, in Heaven.

Jesus Christ (God’s Son) came to earth to help us, to teach us, to die for us so that we may one day come to the end which God intends for us—eternal life in Heaven.

How do we remind ourselves of this on a regular basis? After all, God is always present to us and has us in his mind constantly.  With our limited human minds, however, we do not always think of God.

It is our Catholic tradition that the church bells would ring in the morning, at noon, and in the evening to remind us to stop and pray.  People would traditionally pray the Angelus.  It is a call to prayer.  It is a reminder for us to turn to God.

We need to bring ourselves to pray at various times during the day.  We can become more aware of God’s presence.  We need to worship God by attending Mass minimally on a regular (weekly) basis.  We need to spiritualize the events that happen to us--good and bad--to see how, where and why our faith in God fits into the picture.

God is always there.  We need to seek Him out and become more and more aware of His presence.  We need to see the “big picture” concerning the existence of our lives.

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor