In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, One God, Amen.
“I am at the centre of my story, I am the main character.” And I live my life centred on this premise. I make decisions about my life, both major and minor ones, and I will see how it pans out. Other characters come in to my story—some fleeting, some I do not even know directly, others become regular sidekicks—and I interact with them; some turn out to be goodies while others villains: most are relatively neutral. Worse still, I treat God and his Church as “other characters,” my fellow Christians as bit-parts.
My brothers and sisters, the Lord said “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” As learned scientists have told us that life on Earth is completely dependent on the light of the Sun so too life in the universe, the Cosmos, is completely dependent on the light of Christ. Christ is the centre, the heart, the true being, not I.
The Church tells us that we are, each one of us, here not to “discover ourselves” nor for “self-help”—this is not your story nor mine—but to come into contact with God’s story. We are the creatures in his creation. And in this encounter with God a strange event occurs: the Lord offers participation in himself. This sounds scary—will a meeting with the Lord God Almighty change me? And the answer is yes! “If any one thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'” Our encounter with God leads to being a part of his story which is the story of life, abundant life, an overflowing of life: from our hearts shall flow living water.
My dear brothers and sisters, do not let God be a small part in your story: rather be a small part in his. Because our own story is finite, one day it will end, but God’s story is infinite and full of life—even the most minor person within it has infinite potential. Be a part of God through prayer, through studying Scripture, through service to others, through the Mysteries, through Communion. Do not only let the Lord into your life but dive into his life where we may become united with him.
That we may come to knowledge of the True God through his Only-begotten Son by the power and operation of the Holy Spirit, Amen.