Christian Faith formation, "Soul food"
When I begin a journey I expect to go somewhere. When I begin a relationship, I expect it to grow beyond "hello" or "welcome". As Catholic Christians, we begin our relationship with God through the sacraments of initiation - Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist. They are God's greetings to us at different stages in a "growing" relationship with him. Baptism is God's "welcome" into the new relationship. As we would expect, this greeting occurs only once at the beginning. But if my journey takes me nowhere or my relationship ends with its greeting, like an acorn without nourishment, I should never expect to become an oak tree. Likewise, a relationship must be fed in order to grow in love and understanding or it will wither and die.
Christian Faith formation is the food; it is the interplay in our relationship with God, consumed at different times for different reasons, but always with the goal of growing in deeper knowledge and love of the Trinity itself. If the food, however, is of poor quality, the relationship will not grow strong; and if it is not fed with regularity it will starve. What friendship can be sustained on phone calls only? What marriage can survive without cooperation and reconciliation? Our relationship with God is a friendship. It is a marriage. Nutritionists say that infrequent and intense eating is unhealthy. Instead it is recommended that we feed our bodies healthy snacks in between the larger meals. A friendship with Jesus, likewise, can not grow on poor, unpredictable and infrequent encounters.
How often have you felt spiritual hunger pains and cried out: "I am not being fulfilled."? Yet, spiritual food exists all around us and much right here in our own parish. Like any want or need we truly desire, we must seek it out. Prayer (Meditation on scripture, family prayer, adoration, outreach, etc.), is the light snacking in between meals which stabilizes and sustains the friendship, moving it toward mutual understanding. Retreats and parish missions, like power drinks to a runner, rejuvenate us when we have grown weary. On going study of our Catholic faith (Catechesis) is knowledge food for the mind. It is prayer's partner. While prayer moves our heart toward greater understanding, Catechesis enriches our mind through greater knowledge of God. The Mass is the large festive meal when we gather with the Lord to enjoy him most intensely. Each source of enrichment is not intended to be the only source of food for our well being. Although a friendship could survive for awhile with infrequent visits, we would not feel fulfilled and therefore only surviving. Our goal in any worth while relationship is to grow and real growth comes when we experience the other frequently and differently.
