I sit here in the darkness of the pre-dawn morning thinking about my relationship with God. I was so far away at one point, for a long portion of my life. But, God had planted His love within my heart. A seed buried deeply within that only needed a bit of the Light of the Son and breath of the Spirit to waken it from its long slumber.
When this seed came to life by the touch of Jesus’ loving hand, my heart was ablaze with passion. There was little I wouldn’t do for this new faith. The day I accepted Jesus in my life, I was on fire as the saying goes. ‘The day I accepted Jesus’ sounds all very Protestant to most Catholics but this day is a truly magnificent day. I can vividly remember the moment and words I said to Him. The first words I believe I had ever truly spoken to Jesus.
Trials have come into my life, the most difficult may be life itself. It is very difficult to keep the fire blazing and passion alive day after day without real focus and effort.
How does one keep the passion alive? It is the same with God as it is with a spouse or anyone. To keep the passion, one must always speak to the other person and never stop trying to learn more about them. With God we must always strive to stay close and draw closer to Jesus. We can do that by daily reading of Holy Scripture. Reading how Saints before is did it certainly can help – they are a great blessing we have over many Christians. Most importantly, we must talk to God every day, often – aka prayer. And when we mess up and sin, we need to immediately turn to Jesus and ask His forgiveness. That comes to another great gifts we Catholics should cherish – the Sacraments. Forgiveness flows freely through Confession and His love can change our hearts in the Eucharist.
Do you spend time just sitting in the pre-dawn quiet with Jesus? Not too late to start.