A love letter

“To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek Him the greatest adventure; to find Him, the greatest human achievement.” I was reminded of St. Augustine’s words during an Ash Wednesday homily. Not just poetic, they feel like a challenge to the way I sometimes live my faith.

I’ll be honest: there are many Sundays where I find myself overwhelmed by an indescribable peace during Mass. In those moments, I feel a desperate urge to just... stay. I want to dwell in His house, wrapped in that sacred silence, and completely avoid stepping back out into a world that is so noisy, so distracted, and often so cold.

But as I listen to the final blessing, I’m reminded that staying put isn’t what I’m called to do. At the end of every Mass, we are commissioned. We are told to go. Discipleship is our duty. And I’ve realized that I cannot follow a directive to "Go and announce the Gospel" if I refuse to leave the most serene place in the world.

I’ve had to challenge myself to remember that I can be with Him beyond those church doors. I have to find Him in others - especially in the people I find the hardest to love. I have to be Him to those who feel miles away from His grace.

There’s an interview with Jim Caviezel, the actor from The Passion of the Christ, that I’ve watched over and over because of the raw conviction in his voice when he says:
“Tell God you love Him from your heart, not your head.”

That hit me hard. It’s so easy for me to love God with my "head" - to know the prayers and follow the rules. But to love Him from my heart? That’s a different kind of fire. That’s the kind of love that forces me to look at a stranger and see a brother or sister. It’s a love that demands action, not just a pious thought.

Lent has begun, and I’m looking at these forty days differently this year. I’m asking myself: Is my life a reflection of that "greatest romance" Augustine spoke of?

It isn’t too late for any of us. I’m inviting you to join me in making this Lent a love letter to God, written not in ink, but in the way we serve, the way we sacrifice, and the way we step out of our comfort zones to find Him in the world.