Are you ready to discover something new?

Happy Columbus Day!

Gone are the days of huge Columbus parades and big celebrations of the day of our nation’s discovery. Christopher Columbus has a rich history in the Catholic Church we may not realize. EWTN on Christopher Columbus

Many schools no longer have this day off and many historians temper any discussion of Christopher Columbus’ journey across the Atlantic with an effort to recognize the harm early settlers caused to native populations.

Getting the history straight is important, especially in regard to remembering those who died at the hands of those who came to North America only for the purpose of selfish gain. However, those realities often then overtake the heroics and bravery of those who came only to discover.

Such was Christopher Columbus. At the time he sailed, despite what we may have been taught, many scientists actually knew the world was round. But it is unlikely anyone in Europe knew there was a great big continent sitting out in the Atlantic Ocean waiting to be found! Columbus’ voyage changed the world as they knew it.

I heard about discovery and exploration this morning at Mass. Father talked of the reality that we may think there is nothing left to discover. Maybe we think all the good stuff is gone, he wondered.

Then came his challenge – discover your faith! Discover Jesus! The undiscovered country is your very soul.

This was echoed in the meditation offered in The Magnificat. Fr. Bede Jarrett, +1934, says as much.

“The Kingdom of God, therefore, is something that the individual from the age of reason to the end of life has to be continually realizing for himself. He has to be continually hammering away at the truths of faith, endeavoring to get more meaning out of them, to find in them the help and guidance that daily life continually demands.”

Keep challenging yourself and learn a bit more – every day – about your faith, Jesus and just how much He loves you. Find out more about angels or miracles or a new saint. Challenge yourself to a rosary, a novena or Daily Mass.

Fr. Jarrett continues, “I must make it personal to myself – chew it, digest it, form out of it the sinews of my spiritual being.”

Leave a Reply

Name *
Email *
Website