News & Notes: June 1, 2010

June 1, 2010

Dear Parents,

God’s peace!

Recently I read a story by John Shea. He is known for finding or creating stories that are simple, yet provide much food for thought. The story I would like to share with you is, indeed, simple…and yet I believe its meaning runs deep for each of us.

“For twenty years, I was a teacher. At Christmastime, it was the custom at the school where I taught for all the kids to bring gifts.

After about the third year, I could name the gift by the size of the box it came in. Whenever my students would come up with long, flat boxes, I would know they were handkerchiefs. Since thank-you notes were not expected, I would take these long, flat boxes and just throw them in my closet unopened. Then, as I needed a handkerchief, I would open a box and take one out. I always had more boxes than I needed handkerchiefs.

One time I went into my closet, took out a box, and opened it. Instead of a handkerchief, there was an antique pocket watch. All this time, I possessed an antique pocket watch and I didn’t know it.”

I found this story and interesting one… a gift given…an assumption as to what the gift is…the discovery of the true gift. As with every good story, there can be…and are…multiple layers of meaning which reveal themselves upon reflection. Perhaps I am presumptuous in asserting what the story’s meaning has for me… but let me offer a few thoughts…and then I encourage your own…even deeper reflections.

Each of us has been given a gift that is wondrous…beyond measure…undeserved… The gift each of us has been given is the gift of life, and that life comes from God who has breathed into each of us his Spirit, and has called us to life, creating us in His own image. Stop for a moment… don’t read these lines as you would any other… savor them…wonder at the prospect of having this gift… be in awe of God’s generosity, and the trust and unfathomable confidence God has in us.

What do we do with this gift? If we are like Shea we at times toss it in the back of our life’s closet and assume we know what the gift box holds. Perhaps at some point in our lives when we need a realization of love and hope, we rummage through the dark recesses of the closet and unearth the box that holds what was ours all along.

We often walk through life clinging to what is passing…what delights for only a moment…what we believe will bring us peace… and we forget that we already possess the greatest of gifts which we have not earned, which we do not deserve, which was given to us out of pure love.

Pause…reflect…ponder…the ultimate gift… and then sing…shout…dance…declare your gratitude for it… Christ proclaimed “I have come to give you life, and life to the full” What an incredible promise, what a wondrous reality. Let us live each day with a deep awareness of what is ours…

In prayer,

Sr. Maureen