Did anyone else just do a fist pump when you read today’s readings?
When I was in high school, I finally read the Word. Of course, I had heard the Word spoken to me at every Mass since I was in diapers getting dunked in the Holy Water. But when I was a new teenager, wide-eyed and self-conscious, I finally read the Bible for myself.
And boy, I wasn’t missing anything.
I tried to start at the beginning. Page one, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth . . .” YAWN. Over and over, I tried to read the Bible from the beginning. I’d get half-way through Genesis chapter 1 and give up. But one day, I said a little prayer in my heart.
Lord, speak to me through Your word.
And I opened up to a random page and read the first thing I saw. Then I did it again, and I did it again. I was getting somewhere. He was sending me messages. It was our secret code. The light bulb flashed on and I finally understood. The Bible is meant to be lived, not simply read.
His Word is like a seed planted: "and the seed should sprout and grow, he knows not how.” We get glimmers and flashes of the truth of our lives. We get a peak at His plans. We get a sliver of His creation. But like the seed in the soil, the Word grows in our hearts. It sprouts and blossoms slowly, rooting itself into the very fabric of our beings. The will of God allows us to endure. We keep the faith.
That is why I am so invigorated by today’s readings. He has reminded me, yet again, of His glorious and awesome power to speak to me through His Words. I look up the the sky and throw out my arms in celebration.
How do you find truth in the Word in your daily life? How do you read the messages of the Bible and see yourself as the reader for whom the Word was written?
Samantha Aguinaldo-Wetterholm is a wife, mom, and soon-to-be-dentist currently living in San Francisco, California. You can find out more about her here.
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