Food for the Journey: Don't get too comfortable

by Diocese of Des Moines | January 19, 2022

By Mandie DeVries

Are we too comfortable with our Catholic faith? After long years following Christ, we can get so used to the message of Christianity that we barely notice how revolutionary and terrifyingly awesome it is. Lucky for us, the Lord knows our nature to get comfortable with anything and places signs in our midst to invite us back to awareness and ­– hopefully - a deeper relationship with the mystery before us. That is, if we choose to accept the invitation.

Have you ever stopped to notice, for example, that the most prominent statue in our churches is of a dead or dying man being tortured? Even if we do notice the crucifix and make the Sign of the Cross over our bodies, does it make us uncomfortable, sorrowful, grateful, prayerful, or even curious? Should we ever be comfortable with this sign, placed in our midst, of a bleeding, mostly-naked man? Do we recognize the invitation to ask God, "Why?"

Or how about a nativity scene? Most of us are accustomed to washing our hands before holding a newborn, yet how is it that this newborn is placed in a box where animals just had their dinner? The baby in the manger is the King of Creation, but his attendants are shepherds and the poor? And let’s not forget the most incredible scandal of the nativity: now, in the arms of a woman, we can actually look at God. We get so comfortable with hearing the words in the Mass, “This is My Body,” but do we ever pause to notice the more shocking sign of the Christ Child which silently cries out, “I AM this Body?”

Or, finally, how much have we really thought of the sign that is the Eucharist? As St. Augustine says about sacraments, “One thing is seen, another is understood.” When we see that tiny host, it should make us all squirm a little bit if we are paying attention. The Son of God, who took on human nature and a human body, said over a piece of bread, “This is my Body…Do this in memory of me.” Now the scandal of the creche and the cross of long ago is made present in the scandal of the Eucharist (which is why it is sometimes called the “prolongation of the Incarnation”). The ineffable, uncontainable, infinite One, became see-able, touchable, kill-able, and ultimately, consumable. Have you ever asked, "Why, Lord?"

Signs, like parables, can serve as doors that open to something bigger on the inside than on the outside if we choose to walk through them. Unfortunately, it's easy to get so comfortable with signs and sacraments that we become like those who look, but do not see, and who listen but do not understand. Remember, prophets and kings longed to see what we see, but did not see it (cf. Lk 10:24). This year, let’s get uncomfortable with the signs that we’ve taken for granted for so long. A sign is an invitation to walk through a door ­- ­let's open it!

Mandie DeVries lives in Des Moines where she and her husband homeschool their six children and attend the Basilica of St. John. She is a catechist and trainer for Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.