I have had quite interesting and varied responses from people with whom I have shared the news of my imminent Covenant. While a few were genuinely happy for me, most kept their thoughts to themselves, not quite sure what to make of it. Others were more forthcoming, and not exactly approving.
B told me I can't be happy for you, while L was dead set against it. E gave me one of her looks which spoke volumes. I am sure some think I am crazy, and we are talking baptized Catholics here. It is not as if I will, overnight, become a Bible-thumping, finger-pointing zealot who judges and condemns everyone. Far from it, if I were to model Christ even more closely - and that, indeed is the plan.
As I told B, my Covenant is an endeavour to walk a committed path toward holiness, and in so doing, I can only hope that the Spirit will lead me, gifting me with so much wisdom, humility and joy that I will bring healing, unity and laughter into the lives of people I know and love, near and far.
The prophecy from Isaiah, chapter 42, which Christ fulfilled to the letter is one that I, and all baptized Christians who are serious about practising their faith try their hand at:
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.
This is what it means to live out my baptismal office (of priest, prophet and king) in fullness. As Father Arro shared today, to be priest means worshipping God by honouring Him in prayer and singing songs that speak of love, hope, peace, joy, truth, beauty and goodness.
To be a prophet is to own a living relationship with Him and share it with others both as tribute and inspiration, drawing my own strength from contemplating the Book of Life, the Bible, frequently.
And to be king would mean working tirelessly to build a kingdom without boundaries, fear or hate, because as Saint Peter told Cornelius, Jesus is the Lord of all, for God has no favourites and that anybody, of any nationality, is acceptable as long as he fears God and does what is right.
Following so closely in Christ's footsteps is not something the world understands, a world that is filled with people who either mistrust or do not acknowledge the existence of God. They fear religious ardour and passion, mistaking it for Pharasaic fundamentalism.
I don't expect people, especially family and friends, to understand my choices, but I do hope that eventually they will come to realize that my love for the Lord is a wonderful thing and that in some way, they experience His goodness through me, and their lives are somehow, indefinably, transformed for the better.
B told me I can't be happy for you, while L was dead set against it. E gave me one of her looks which spoke volumes. I am sure some think I am crazy, and we are talking baptized Catholics here. It is not as if I will, overnight, become a Bible-thumping, finger-pointing zealot who judges and condemns everyone. Far from it, if I were to model Christ even more closely - and that, indeed is the plan.
As I told B, my Covenant is an endeavour to walk a committed path toward holiness, and in so doing, I can only hope that the Spirit will lead me, gifting me with so much wisdom, humility and joy that I will bring healing, unity and laughter into the lives of people I know and love, near and far.
The prophecy from Isaiah, chapter 42, which Christ fulfilled to the letter is one that I, and all baptized Christians who are serious about practising their faith try their hand at:
I formed you, and set you
as a covenant of the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes of the blind,
to bring out prisoners from confinement,
and from the dungeon, those who live in darkness.
This is what it means to live out my baptismal office (of priest, prophet and king) in fullness. As Father Arro shared today, to be priest means worshipping God by honouring Him in prayer and singing songs that speak of love, hope, peace, joy, truth, beauty and goodness.
To be a prophet is to own a living relationship with Him and share it with others both as tribute and inspiration, drawing my own strength from contemplating the Book of Life, the Bible, frequently.
And to be king would mean working tirelessly to build a kingdom without boundaries, fear or hate, because as Saint Peter told Cornelius, Jesus is the Lord of all, for God has no favourites and that anybody, of any nationality, is acceptable as long as he fears God and does what is right.
Following so closely in Christ's footsteps is not something the world understands, a world that is filled with people who either mistrust or do not acknowledge the existence of God. They fear religious ardour and passion, mistaking it for Pharasaic fundamentalism.
I don't expect people, especially family and friends, to understand my choices, but I do hope that eventually they will come to realize that my love for the Lord is a wonderful thing and that in some way, they experience His goodness through me, and their lives are somehow, indefinably, transformed for the better.
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