Fall in Minnesota is a beautiful season. The colors are vibrant. The air is clean and crisp. The angle of the sun is noticeably different than it was during the summer months. We know that change is occurring. As we go for walks this time of year, we see a changed landscape from the summer. Familiar views become breathtaking.
As often happens on our walks, we can concentrate so much on completing the walk, that we don’t notice the fall colors. We become blind to our surroundings or “trail blind.” Two loons landed on the pond we walk around, dove two or three times, then took off for parts unknown to us. If we hadn’t been paying attention at that moment, we would have missed them. When we actually take time to look around, we notice that the wild grasses which displayed varying shades of green in the summer months, have changed to various shades of tan and brown. The colorful leaves of the deciduous trees are enhanced against the backdrop of a blue sky sprinkled with white clouds.
Our faith lives can be like that. We get caught up in what we are doing and miss opportunities to see the face of Christ in the people we encounter. We can be so focused on the task at hand, that we neglect the immediate need of those closest to us. Perhaps it’s a friend who needs someone to listen without offering suggestions to their situation. Whatever it may be, Christ is in those moments, those situations, those interruptions. Others may need us to be Christ for them right at the moment we are most busy.
The Cursillo movement calls us to a continuous progressive conversion which should lead us to action in our environments. Participating in our Group Reunion and Ultreya are great places to hear what fellow Cursillistas are doing for prayer, study and action. If we are open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, we may be led to a different format of prayer or perhaps a new area of study or action.
These new ideas inspired by what others are doing can help prevent us from going trail blind. They can prompt us to focus on those around us and recognize when someone needs to see the love of Christ, so that we can be Christ.
One of the recent Sunday Gospels was the story about the rich man and the beggar Lazarus. In the homily we heard, the rich man may have been a good person. Perhaps he just never noticed Lazarus because he was trail blind every day going in and out of his door.
Lord, help me to see in a new way so that I can be in a new way.
De Colores!
Tom and Diane Repucci
