The Gift of Wonder

 Being a Catholic often appears to the outside world of as a set of rigorous rules that must be clung to like a life raft. As Catholics we've been referred to as "rigid" and "boring" and then instructed to "loosen up." I'd be the last to argue that we need to live more like secular individuals, however I do think that they are right to call us out when we turn our focus too much on the rules and less on the beautiful gifts we've been given as Catholics.

Being a Catholic means we go into a Church, watch the consecration and afterwards are able to argue with certainty that what appears to the entire world to be a piece of bread is actually the Lord who loves us more than any fairytale ever told. There's nothing further from "boring" or "rigid" than this. 

When you recognize our Lord in the Eucharist, or acknowledge that every beat of our heart is at His command, we are opening ourselves to Him. Seeing things this way allows us to view the world as a child does, with fascination and wonder. Catholicism shows us that things just are not as they appear. We are called to retell the story of extraordinary love in our own lives, even in the hardest moments. The world can call it stupid and childish but doesn't the Lord call us to be innocent as doves? 

I think it is a far better thing to be called childish than to be called rigid and boring. Seeing the Lord in the wind that blows through the leaves and deep inside the heart of a hardened sinner is just as important as following the rules. Being able to recieve the gift of wonder and the gift of love brings us far along the path to the Lord’s heart.