The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
Weekends in college for me sometimes meant loading a duffel bag with bare essentials and heading to Louisiana to help work a young adult retreat. The "shower-in-a-sink" routine and sleeping on chairs near friends who talked late into the night somehow never bothered me.
With friends, we’d load up the car and cross the state border with little plans other than to show up at the retreat site, ready to help with anything. Whether it’s in prayer, photography, meal prep, or even prop wrangler, I was ready to help.
Looking back, I'm sometimes surprised at that boundless optimism that I carried. Maybe it was the “inner harbor” of college or the retreat's focus on service and community. Whatever the reason, that enthusiasm dwindled as I faced adult realities: finances, job demands or “insert life issue here,” chipped away at my spirit. After quickly learning how plans can go out the window as fast as they’re dreamt up, I slowly stopped dreaming.
When I was younger, my motivation to help was to serve others, and in turn, to serve Christ. “Here I am, Lord; I come to do Your will,” I’d say as I pulled up to a foggy Louisiana parish at night to work the retreat. Today, I sometimes find myself telling God as I pull into the church parking lot: “Here I am, Lord; Yeah, I’m here, OK?” – as if I can give God some attitude.
Still, even as the liturgical seasons seem to flip faster than I can blink, God remains just as ever faithful to me as a young college student or as a working adult in his mid-30s. God’s kindness and truth overflow in the smallest of ways in our daily lives, whether we notice it or not.
Stop for a few minutes today and remember what first lit that faithful spark for you. Was it a person? An experience? For the Blessed Mother, it was the Angel Gabriel, who told Mary – and tells us – “Do not be afraid.”
May the memories of our first faith encounters inspire us out of our fear to say yes to God, not just in words, but with renewed and joyful action during this Easter season. May we be like Mary, who we recognize today with the Annunciation of the Lord, and say in faith: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to Your word.”
James Ramos is a Texas-based photo-journalist, designer and founder of The Lost Pilgrims Club. He loves a good soup, roller coasters, swimming and anything by Father Henri Nouwen. Say hi on Instagram and find more of his photography and writing.