CKRS graduate Michael Doyle, with honors and stoles representing NHS, French NHS, multicultural, and Haudenosaunee, is pictured at his St. Joe’s Prep commencement ceremony. Soon he will be heading to Notre Dame University.
Consider the last time you had a lengthy conversation with God. For me, it was a little over a year ago, during a school-sponsored retreat in the middle of fall. For high school seniors, this is peak college application season, and while in retrospect it may have been questionable timing for me to take nearly a week off from school, in the present, it was precisely what I needed. It was on the third night, after receiving the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation, that I finally gave real thought to faith, belief, and my life.
The seemingly relentless pursuit of high school greatness often tamps down spiritual acknowledgement, but for those cognizant of their journey, remember God’s unending acceptance. Revelation 3:20 depicts Jesus stating, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Each day we hear this knock, and each day we are at our own will to answer it. If there is something to remember each day that you wake up, it is that Jesus is one swing of the door away.
I have been fortunate enough to answer the knock of God at every point of my life, whether it has been through 13 years of Catholic education (so far), my progression to Eagle Scout, or my work in parish ministry with Fr. Jon’s Bible Study. Yet it remains expressly difficult to articulate to others what God’s message means to me. I find the Prayer of Saint Francis has the most concise description: “It is in giving that we receive.” Through works of mercy, corporal or spiritual, we can see God’s visage in others and, in turn, embark on a mission of global compassion.
The great Jesuit scientist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin conveyed it best: “Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.”
Michael Doyle, an Eagle Scout, managed the audio-visual equipment for Father Jon’s Bible Study during his high school career.
Jesus is one swing of the door away—will you open it? On page 3, you’ll find inspiring opportunities for people of all ages to grow in faith, serve others, and welcome Christ more fully into daily life.