07 July 2010

Come on in, the water's freezing!

I didn't post anything this last week-end - busy, as usual - and I don't usually just cross-post; it smacks of laziness (oh, ok, it is laziness).  But please read the post in this link.  And if you're not a Catholic - at least ask yourself why we Catholics feel this way: the worst thing in the world is being a Catholic - except not being a Catholic.

2 comments:

Irene said...

Dear John, I found your blog via the above article, which I found on a post in Called to Communion. I've just finished reading your conversion story, and I must say it is truly inspiring, sooo beautiful, and gives me so much hope for the love and mercy of God. There are many people in my life I am actively praying for in terms of conversions. One is my brother who's left the Church due to hard teachings regarding so called gay marriages (he's a democrat and feels the Church is somehow discriminating) as well as many many protestant friends, many of whom seem as indisposed to Catholicism as Michael and Mr. Jordan. But through your story, I have greater faith that if we ask God, he can cut through even the hardest of hearts. I'm so glad he brought you home! I wish every person on my list of my conversion intentions the same happiness and peace that you now possess. God bless!

-Irene

John Thayer Jensen said...

Thank you, Irene. I think it is more difficult than ever now for people to understand what the Catholic Church means. We look on the externals of things almost exclusively. I thought of that this morning at Mass - Saturday morning, maybe a dozen people there - fewer than usual, because it was pretty cold this morning (I am in New Zealand and it is winter. It was 2 degrees C this morning, frost on the windscreen :-)). Our parish is building a new church building, so in the meantime we are meeting in the hall - old, draughty, freezing cold - and drab. Father was in a bit of a hurry, too - probably because he was freezing!

I read the Scriptures on a Saturday - walked up to the ambo, not knowing what to expect - and...

In the year King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne,
with the train of his garment filling the temple.
Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings:
with two they veiled their faces,
with two they veiled their feet,
and with two they hovered aloft.

They cried one to the other,
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!
All the earth is filled with his glory!"
At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shook
and the house was filled with smoke.

Then I said, "Woe is me, I am doomed!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
living among a people of unclean lips;
yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"
Then one of the seraphim flew to me,
holding an ember that he had taken with tongs from the altar.

He touched my mouth with it and said,
"See, now that this has touched your lips,
your wickedness is removed, your sin purged."

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
"Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?"
"Here I am," I said; "send me!"


I was, frankly, floored by it. I was about to approach that, to receive Him - into me.

Oh, that He might indeed purge us with fire that we may be clean, and be made worthy, indeed, to say, "Here I am - send me."

jj