Can you imagine?

"Eye has not seen, ear has not heard what God has ready for those who love Him."  1 Cor. 2:9

Imagine. Can we really imagine what God has ready for those who love Him?  Scripture tells us we cannot even fathom what God has ready for us if we but love Him.  Our human minds are amazingly made:  even so, God is so big that not even our most brilliant minds, even those of the Saints, can imagine.

This is my reflection this morning, Ash Wednesday, 2014.  I am sitting in a large, open-air meeting room in Ledalero known as the Veranda. Like any meeting room, it is filed with chairs and a few tables.  But some of the chairs are comfy, large, sturdy wooden arm chairs with rattan seats and backs.   The room has a tiled floor and four large windows with floor-length light blue curtains and white sheers.  One of the six walls in the room is made of concrete formed into a pattern that allows air and light to pass between the inside and outside.  The best "wall" of all is only maybe 2 feet tall, creating a large open space above where outside and inside become one.  Through it I see a plethora of palm trees, various fruit trees and the flowers for which the Portuguese named this island of Flores.

I have chosen this spot this morning as the place to read some professional articles written by an SVD priest here at the seminary who has a Doctorate in Catholic Liturgy.  He has asked me to read these articles which he, a native Indonesian,  has written in English, and to make suggestions about English grammar, writing style, and flow.

Can you imagine?  A PhD in liturgy has asked little old me to review articles he has written and to help him with the English, my first language.  As you may know, I love liturgy.  Imagine my delight to be reading about his research on rites of Christian initiation as celebrated in combination with ancient tribal traditions in eastern Indonesia! Similarly, I have been asked to attend newly-created English conversation groups for seminary professors, Catholic SVD priests who have Masters or Doctoral degrees and who want to improve their conversational English (pronunciation, grammar, context, etc.).  What humility these men have.  And how humble I feel! 

Can you imagine?  I can scarcely imagine that, when I said, "Here I am, Lord, send me", God would send me to a) INDONESIA, and b) help holy priests improve their English skills!  And not only that, but also to help the newly-ordained priests with masters degrees who are about to be sent around the world to spread the Good News (missionaries), as well as seminarians, seminary staff members, and professors!  All I can say is wow.

Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will.  Send me.

And send me He did!  I pray that this Lent, we may all strive to seek the Lord while he may be found, and to grow in holiness.  Lord, help us to become saints.

I can only imagine

Eye Has Not Seen, sung by the seminary choir in Indonesia