Jesus is a Superhero

This year, I have the immense privilege to make my first pilgrimage ever to the Holy Land. It is even more special to be with our pastor, Msgr. Torgerson and a few dozen parishioners from the community I treasure and consider my home. Even still, it's never easy being so far away from my family—especially my son, Leland.

After our first day in Nazareth, with only two stints of a few hours of sleep in two days, I decided to freshen up in the Sea of Galilee before dinner. Being 10 hours ahead, I realized Leland was going to St. Monica for school. Thanks to modern technology, I got to chat face-to-face with him on his commute. "Do you know the water that Jesus walked on?" I asked.

"Yeah," Leland said, intrigued.

"I just went swimming in that sea," I shared. His face widened, his mouth opened, and his eyes were bigger than I'd ever seen. He didn't have words, but it was as if I had just told him his favorite superhero was coming over for dinner. His awe and excitement were a perfect expression of faith. It's a reminder that belief isn't that difficult. We begin with a perfect understanding, and most of the time, that slowly erodes with age. In the middle of our secular lives, we need a pilgrimage to the sites of Jesus' life to reconnect with our faith. I needed to experience the tangible—to get my feet wet. All Leland needed was the account—the Gospel truth shared by his dad. Little does he know how much that gave me, rather than the other way around.

As we finish our month of stewardship renewal, I wonder what illustrations of the Gospel stories we can find in the everyday lives of our parishioners—of you. Are we examples of Jesus' Gospel? St. Monica strives to welcome and lift all those longing to be a loving disciple. That is how we can transform the world...in this place.