Building Cathedrals

Some time ago in Bible Study we touched on the workers who built the great cathedrals and how very few could expect to see a finished cathedral in their lifetime.  Taking decades, and sometimes centuries to build, workers had to find peace with adding only a few bricks, relatively speaking, to what would eventually become a masterpiece.

How relatable this story is for most of us today.  Our days are our bricks, and God asks us to spend them building up a Kingdom not our own.  I was reminded of this last Wednesday when Christie Walker and I were blessed to spend a day in retreat with the 19 graduates of our Catholic School.  It was easy to see the bricks that had been laid within each of them by each one of you – our community – who have helped build them up as high as the 8th Grade. 

These students have served us at Sweethearts Dinners, Parish Lunches, at the Altar, and in so many other ways.  In return, you have afforded them a church and a school to safely grow while they learn to know Jesus. Each one of them, in his or her own way, is a Cathedral for God and how blessed are we to have laid even one brick.  

Isn’t this, then, the definition of discipleship?  God’s gift in us given to and reflected in those He places in our lives. 

I am writing this post from a lawn chair in my back yard next to the roses that our dearly beloved and departed parishioner, Virginia Barber, taught me to grow. (pictured above)   Virginia laid a few bricks within me, as have so many of you, and I am forever in your debt.  This summer, my hope for us builders is that we might lift ourselves up, stretch our backs, and find joy within the Master Builder.

With Love,

Mary