Stay A While (05/10/2024)

Last evening, the women of our parish hosted a talk for the area adults on St. Thérèse of Lisieux. The presenter gave the crowd much to consider with her engaging presentation. Afterwards, the attendees were invited to stay a while and enjoy the buffet of sandwiches, fruits, and an amazing array of desserts as well as enjoy one another’s company. They did just that. I couple times, I stood back and just took it in. The tables were filled with individuals sharing their time, their support for one another, their lives and faith.

It is so heartwarming to see a group “stay a while.” Our modern lives have become so “fast” with drive throughs, order ahead for curbside, order online for next day deliveries, 5G internet, speed limits of 70 mph or higher. It seems at times that we’ve lost sight of the value of simply spending time with one another along the way. And spending time to share our faith and companionship has been hit especially hard. It is sad because sharing our faith and companionship is the best way to grow faith and community for the one who gives the time to do so.

It is one of the great ironies of our faith life – the giver becomes the greatest receiver. The one sharing their faith with another finds that their faith is not depleted but miraculously increased. The one willing to extend companionship finds that their own sense of community is enhanced and enlarged. How our world needs us to stay a while. How we need to stay a while for our own selves as we realize the LORD’s magnificent divine design and plan for us.

When we stay a while for the other, we leave realizing how much we ourselves have gained. How I wish I could pass that piece of wisdom around more universally. How I wish the Sunday crowd would linger after church to visit with those who had sat so closely to them in prayer and who had lifted their voices in harmony in songs of praise. How I wish that sharing the journey with others was such a priority that it trumped the urge to hurry home for kickoff or to mow the lawn. Truly, the return on staying a while and sharing a bit of another’s journey surpasses our expectations.

Think about it. When the LORD told us how others will know we are His, it is by how well we love one another. It isn’t by which formula of prayer we use or which style of vestments we don. It is how well we love one another. And loving another involves time spent and gifts given. What more valuable gifts do we have to share than our faith and time?

I pray that we will rediscover the gift of staying a while. I pray that our time as sojourners in the LORD will be punctuated richly with encounters with others, with sharing of faith and time, with companionship and authentic caring.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.