Gift giving

Yes, it is finally over, my TOB paper is done!!! Submitted yesterday at 7:30am. While I was not very satisfied with it, I had run out of time and had to let it go in its final mutation.

I've gained a couple of insights while writing it, chief among which is that I suck at starting any big project, especially if I think/know it's going to be difficult.

I have to say my gut feel was right on this and most of the process was pretty torturous for John Paul II is not an easy read. But I now have a better grasp of what the late pontiff was saying in his catechesis, post-paper, and I'm glad for the knowledge transfer that has taken place.

The other Church documents I had to read made a deep impact on me and I came away awed at the wealth of information and the depth of knowledge contained in these documents, although my main bugbear is the language that these documents, including TOB, are written in - must they be written in language that is so inaccessible to ordinary folk like me?

Anyway, that's another story but I do resolve to do something about it, so watch this space...

In my meeting with my SD yesterday, he asked me what was it that I gained most during the course and the writing of the paper and I summed it up in one word: affirmation.

In going back to the beginning of Creation and understanding what is meant by being made in God's "image and likeness"...

In assimilating JPII's philosophy on what the body, my body, was created for and deciphering the language of my body...

In dissecting Christ's suffering and death on the Cross, His redemption of the body and His great love for humanity...

In all these revelations of divine love, I am totally awed and humbled.

I am learning to accept the gift of my body wholeheartedly and I delight in the gifts of the Trinity, Creation and of others in my life.

In turn, I am also challenged to make sense of the gifts I have received and to reciprocate by being a gift to others in the way I am - in my heart, my soul, my mind and all my strengths.

JPII beautifully develops the idea of self-gift which was proclaimed by Pope Paul VI in Gaudium et Spes: Man "cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself".

So when I give, I receive myself more and more in my living, ensouled body.

The more I give, the more I receive?

Gotta love the gift of JPII!