The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
Taken, Blessed, Broken, Given
They all ate and were satisfied.
Luke 9:17
Christ takes, blesses, breaks, and gives. We hear this echoed in the liturgy, see it throughout the readings and gospels, and can trace it in our own lives. We are taken from plans, and people, gifted moments of immense blessing, face the pain of broken dreams and comforts, and find opportunities to make a gift of ourselves for having experienced the rest. But although we recognize this pattern and its ultimate promise of fulfillment, we so often resist.
We grasp at our comfort zones, complacent relationships, and cozy dispositions, cowering in shame and struggling against his blessings. We echo Christ’s words, begging to be spared the cup of suffering, demanding through sobs an answer for God’s abandonment. And the very idea of being given shakes us to our core. We cannot control how we are received and fear being a burden. But Jesus didn’t die for a burden. He died for his beloved, whom he couldn’t bear to spend an eternity without. Our goodness, purified through fire and clarified through moments of choice, is meant to be shared with the world. But so often doubt creeps and our hearts harden. Our breath catches at the stretching and groaning that learning to love deeper entails, and we resist.
But what if we didn’t? What if we let ourselves be taken, pulled on a wild adventure by the lover of our souls? What if we welcomed blessings, letting go of shame to make space for his glory? What if we trusted the healer to recover what was lost and make all things new? What if we gave all that we are with confidence in all that he knows us to be? What if we didn’t resist? I grew up praying for a really good story. I wanted a life that made Jesus’ heart beat faster at every twist and turn. What better plot than to be taken, blessed, broken, and given, multiplied as an outpouring of the love of God.
Hannah Kelly is a Catholic Worldview Fellowship and Fiat University alumni who, after completing a year of mission work in Chicago, IL, began her studies at the University of Georgia. Hannah is now a 4th year earning both her bachelor's degree in International Affairs, and master’s degree in International Policy simultaneously.