Weekly Reflection - 16 June 2021 - Looking at the world through the lens of faith and through our inner world

I am currently reading a memoir written by an Australian woman about her hike on the Camino of St James in Spain.  All of you know how much I love that pilgrimage.  Especially during this time when we have not been able to travel during the pandemic, these memoirs about the Camino have given me a lot of inspiration, comfort, and encouragement.  In this memoir, I came across this quote from American Franciscan priest Richard Rohr: “What we are able to see, and are predisposed to see, in the outer world is a mirror reflection of our own inner world and state of consciousness at the time.”  

As a priest, I always tell my parishioners that we need to see the world through the lens of our faith.  We should not see the world through the lens of the secular values of our world, because those values are very different from the values of our faith.  I, in particular, see the world through the lens of being a Catholic priest, through the lens of the missionary experiences I have had, through the lens of all the spirituality and theology I have studied.  Having said that, I also see the world through the lens of being an accountant and having been trained in accounting.  As you all know, I use that lens to help the Diocese in the administrative work to which I am assigned in the chancery office. But the primary lens through which I see the world is the lens of faith.  I will also say that being a pilgrim who has gone on pilgrimage numerous times has also affected the way I see the world.  Many people see the destination as the most important part; to me, the journey is equally important or sometimes more important. 

As we hear so many different messages in our world today call out to us, we can easily be led away from our faith, even in ways we do not realize.  Here at St Jude, we try to reach out to our parishioners in different ways to help us on our journey of faith and to bring all of you the message of our faith that can be easily drowned out by the other messages of our world.  Most of the time, we have an adult faith formation activity or book study or video series going on.  We always have the FORMED website that has videos and books that give the perspective of our faith.  For over a year now, we have been streaming our daily and weekend Masses on our Facebook page.  Deacon John and I send out a reflection each week as well.  We try our best to help our message be heard. 

I know that all of us have busy lives.  I certainly attest to that with all I have going on in my life.  It is hard sometimes for us to feed our inner world so that we are able to perceive the outer world with the lens of our faith.  Let us hear our faith calling out to us, urging us to learn, develop and grow in our faith on our journey.  

Blessings to all of you.  Have a good week.  

Father Lincoln