The important steps we take

 

The most important thing I have done in my life was becoming  

a Catholic, 38 years ago.

Baptized  into the Church of Norway; an evangelical Lutheran  

denomination of Protestant Christianity, 

God always fascinated me, always.

And funnily enough,the first Catholic Church I ever visited and 

prayed in, was the grotto of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.  

My faith was born in the place where Jesus was born....    😃

This only recently struck me, as I was reflecting on the journey that 

led to my entry into the Holy Catholic Church. 

As I used to accompany my husband, who was a practicing catholic,  

"born into" the Church, I knew instinctively that what was happening 

at Mass had to do with me personally, and that it was very important.  

I wanted to become a Catholic, nobody asked me to. 

 

I loved the Word of God. But it was when things went wrong

in my life, when I could not figure out a way out of it, that I 

began to see His hand, because I learned to surrender, to trust. 

Nothing academic about that, completely real, my life on the line.

I learned to say in every situation: 

"Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything." 

"I depend on you for everything" 

Like that I was able to stop sabotaging Him by my own efforts,

which I knew in any case were useless. 

I became free from myself, and at the same time I became more 

like myself than I ever had been before!

 

It is we that block God out, it is not the other way around. 

He never went away; He Is, Was, and Always Will Be, here.

Once we get a taste or a glimpse of His Power, there is no going back.

We want to draw closer all the time. 

And all our own efforts that we put in, brings little reward.

Because what He wants is us, completely.

We realize that we have to continually let go of ourselves, 

in order to give our space to Him. 

We have to be willing to let ourselves be worked over by 

Him; "let your will be done in me, not my will, Lord". 

He is already aware of our needs and desires.

And we have to stop telling Him how to do things. 

Since He created us and everything in the world, He doesn't 

need our instructions on anything!

And the strength, courage and peace He gives to people that 

really trust Him, is incredible.

  

This teaching is in complete opposition to everything 

we learn in the world.

We learn from early on that we have to try really hard, 

work really hard, make lots of efforts.

But Jesus said that His Kingdom was not of this world.

 

I learned more when I went to do retreats in 

Châteauneuf-de-Galaure in France, where the venerable 

Marthe Robin lived her life, bedridden, offering up her

suffering to God. 

She drew hundreds of thousands of people to her

bedside, they came from far in order to just talk with her.

Since her death in 1981, the numbers going there, 

has increased many times over. 

Just learning about her life, how fruitful it was, 

despite her life situation, is something that marks everyone 

that goes there.

 



Yes, becoming Catholic, and purposely wanting to grow in the 

Faith, learning, understanding, developing the Faith, has been 

the most important decision of my life. 

I love you, Jesus! 

 


 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

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