How a relationship with Jesus enriched my life - Part 5

By Emily Finn (Coordinator of Liturgy)

I was baptized at St. Timothy when I was 17 years old. Since then, as I’ve come to know Jesus, my life has changed in countless practical and intangible ways and continues to change as I make the conscious decision to surrender my life and my heart to Him. I knew intellectually at my baptism that I was being made into a new creation. I really came to know it in my heart in the years that followed afterward, as I experienced a slow, steady healing of the wounds and insecurities I had been carrying since childhood. As I started to prioritize quality time in prayer with God and reception of the Sacraments, even though it was inconsistent at first, my life has been transformed and my sense of self-worth has increased. I have come to know that not only was I created for a purpose, but that I can experience true, lasting fulfillment by embracing and living out that purpose. One of my favorite verses from scripture is, “Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5), because I have experienced in my soul how God makes all things new through Jesus Christ.

One of the greatest gifts that God has given me is peace of heart, an unshakeable peace in my soul that I can’t create for myself. I am prone to anxiety and worrying; I’m an expert at making a mountain out of a molehill. When I am confronted with a situation that threatens to overwhelm me and steal my peace, I can turn to God with trust. I know that God is my creator, that I was made by Love and for love, that I was created for good by Goodness Himself. When I remember that this is who I am, uncertainties about where I’ll work or where I’ll live become less overwhelming. I can trust St. Paul when he writes, “In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). This peace isn’t something I can will myself to feel through meticulous planning and preparation. It’s a gift from God, and it usually comes about when I acknowledge my identity as beloved by God, accept my shortcomings, and trust that Jesus is loving and merciful enough to offer me peace, healing, and redemption that goes beyond my own capabilities.

Jesus Christ is alive in this world, working at building His kingdom and working to bring all hearts back to Himself. One of the most meaningful ways my relationship with Jesus has enriched my life is that He allows me to participate in His good work. I know that the restoration of this world is truly Jesus’s work, and He doesn’t need me to get it done. Very often I have been a hindrance to Him anyway. Yet God, in His infinite mercy, has allowed me, through our relationship, to bring about more love, joy, and kindness in this world. When I love Jesus Christ, when I draw closer to Him and allow His love to work in me, Jesus produces good fruit in my soul for the sake of others. When a mother is baking bread with her child, she doesn’t need the child to crack the eggs or mix the dough; she could do a better job on her own. She loves her child so much, though, that for his own sake she wants him to help bake this bread. His participation

makes the experience sweeter for her, even if she could be more efficient on her own. So also, because He loves me, Jesus allows me to participate in building His kingdom here on earth.

Finally, Jesus Christ enriches my life by giving me eyes to see how He is moving all around me. Jesus is tirelessly working to bring all souls back to Himself. There isn’t a single person on earth that He doesn’t earnestly desire—every one of us is created to be in an intimate relationship with Him, whether or not we can feel Him working. What a gift of faith to be able to see, at least partially, some of the ways that God is moving in my life, working things out better than I could ever do, and how He is working in the lives of those I love. The more I notice how God is working, the more my eyes are trained to see Him all around me. I trust in my soul that “all things work for good for those who love God” (Romans 8:28), and that knowledge takes a lot of the urgency out of how I live. I don’t have to worry about desperately striving to get what I think I deserve, because Jesus Christ has already generously given me more than I even knew to ask for.