There are certain images of the more recent Saints who, from pictures, seem to be looking right into our souls. St. Therese, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, St. Maximilian Kolbe – it’s as if they can see a potential in us that we do not yet even see, and their kind look is at once an encouraging exhortation and a reminder of the greatness to which we’re called. That’s what friends are for, and it’s a consolation to know we have such faithful ones in heaven. Friends who are close to the Lord, whether they are with Him in Heaven or following Him on earth, have the happy tendency of seeing us as God sees us, with all the potential and responsibility that implies, and of loving us with His love, which amazes us and sets us free to follow the same path and pattern of true love.
Sometimes our friendship with God grows gently over a lifetime. At other times it begins with a striking experience of the beauty and goodness in life or of creation. Frequently, it is in moments of suffering that we experience God’s presence and light breaking into our lives and with it an invitation to enter into His friendship. God reaches down into our darkness and pain and offers a hand, a way out. Sometimes it requires an act of trust, a leap of faith, at other times His presence is so tender and consoling that following Him seems easy, even irresistible. If we place our hand in His and begin to walk with Jesus, we find our lives begin to change. We want to be better so that we can receive more of Him, and His love draws us out of the narrow confines of ourselves. Gradually our hearts become purified and we find that we are less self absorbed and more other-centered. Before we know it, what began as a spark has grown into a fire in our hearts.
Now there is no turning back. After tasting Godiva there is no going back to Hershey’s without an awareness of what you are missing. Once we have tasted the sweetness of God’s love, our desire for greater union grows until this friendship becomes the defining and driving force in our life. Friendship with God gives us the freedom to let go of the fears and grasping that keep us from opening up to Jesus and receiving all that life brings as a gift and mystery to be lived with Him.
The saints are the great friends of God. By reading about their lives we gain insight into the particularity with which God loves each of us.
Originally printed in IMPRINT Magazine Spring 2011.
