Reflection for Sunday, August 21st Romans 11:33-36 (Second Reading) Caroline Riebeling- Evangelization Chair Hey everyone,

my name is Caroline Riebeling and Im the Evangelization chair for the Catholics Alive Newman organization. Newman organizations can be found on most state school campuses, and we are proud that here at SIUE we have had a long history of Catholic Campus Ministry. So let me tell you a little bit about why Im here. Ill let you all in on a story. I was sitting in Sr. Claudias office one day two weeks ago getting some things done to prepare for the beginning of the semester, when I hear those oh-so-familiar words Caroline, I have an idea. I looked up from whatever it was that I was doing, and just smiled, immediately knowing that the results would be interesting. She asked if I could give a short reflection about one of todays readings. Nervously, I agreed. So she gave me the readings and told me to study them and pray over them so that I would have something, hopefully interesting and thought provoking, to share with you today. I would like to point out that this is not a homily. We had done some research on what some of our friends at other Newman groups were doing, and this reflection idea sounded interesting so we thought Why not? We can do this too! The reading that I wanted to share some thoughts with you about is the second reading, Pauls letter to the Romans. This reading gives us such a beautiful message about humility and surrender. Paul writes, who has given the Lord anything that he may be repaid? From Him and through him and for Him are all things. This statement is truly humbling. Not only does it remind us that we cannot possibly pay God back for all of the things that God has done for us, but it tells us that God does not need us in order to exist. All of our emotions, all of our hopes, our fears, even our willingness to act are given to us through Gods Grace, and they are all aimed toward being reunited with our Creator in heaven.

I think in this reading Paul is also helping us to remember that God loves us, and that we will never be abandoned. We can feel safe when we surrender ourselves to Gods care. We dont always understand what Gods plan for us is, but Paul is telling us not to worry about it. It is useless to try to know Gods reasons why certain things happen, but Paul is trying to remind us that we have no control over God or over those situations. It is a lesson that is much easier to talk about than it is to practice, but we must trust that God will never fail us and will never leave us. Sometimes we might think, Oh, God will take care of everything for me, so I dont really need to pray, or I dont really need to go to mass or volunteer, etc. WRONG! We cant use Gods Grace as an excuse not to act on what we feel God is calling us to do. But, then where do we find this Grace? Thats the tough part. In fact, Gods Grace is all around us. It is here in the Mass, in the Eucharist, and all of the sacraments. It is in the person sitting next to you; its in that teacher that we cant stand because they keep us late after every class period. Its in nature, the air we breathe and the water we drink. We have to take the time to see it, and, most importantly, to hear it. All too often we get back to our dorm room or our apartment or our house after a long day, and we turn on the TV or put in our headphones to try to get away from all of our stress. But, our Christian tradition offers us a valuable and simple way to pray. A few years ago, we went through a Bible Study with Matthew Kelley, and he suggested taking ten minutes every day to just sit in silence. When he first said it, I remember thinking to myself that it sounded like a waste of time I mean Ive got homework to do, Ive got to help Sr. Claudia with her ideas, and somewhere in there I wanted to have a little fun. I made every excuse in my head not to do it, but then he said something so profound that I just couldnt resist he dared us. He dared us to sit in silence for ten minutes every day. Well, I grew up with two older brothers, when it comes to dare, theres no way Im backing down. So I tried it. Now, I consider myself a fairly patient person, and

I have to admit it was rough to just sit there for ten minutes and pray in silence. The more I tried though, the easier it got, and the more relaxed I was about everything. We can hear Gods grace in silent moments. We are all pretty good at talking to God we all know how to ask him for a good grade on an exam or for a promotion at work or for that really cute girl or guy in class to talk to us, but sometimes we are better off just stopping and listening to Godopening our ears, our minds, and our hearts to hear what God has to say and accepting Gods Grace in love and in silence. Paul does not paint us a picture of Gods Grace as some wonderful potion that will cure all of our problems. Nowhere in the New Testament does anyone say that following Christs call would be easy. No one says that just because Jesus sends us Grace- that we have no responsibility for ourselves or for our neighbor thats just not how it works. Gods grace, however, will carry us through those difficult times on our journey when we feel like giving up or quitting. A great example of this, that I will never forget, happened last semester. There was a new girl at one of our Catholics Alive Newman group meetings who had just transferred from a different school. While she was at the meeting, she was really enthusiastic about getting involved, and she was super confident. My friend and I were drinking coffee a few days later when we saw her walking by, so we invited her to come and sit with us. We chatted for awhile about classes and how we want to quit school and be beach bums, and then we all went to our classes. The next weekend, my friend and I saw her before mass, and she took us to the side and said how much she really appreciated that we wanted her to sit with us. It turns out she had been having some problems adjusting, and she was going through some stuff with her family and she just needed someone to sit down with and take her mind off of things for awhile. Its funny how sometimes even the smallest gestures can mean so much to us. My friend and I had no idea that we were instruments of Gods Grace in that situation, but we were. And every day there are moments when each and every one of us are

channels of Gods Grace. Grace carries us through little moments like that morning when you wake up and you can barely drag yourself to mass, and it carries us through those bigger moments when we have lost someone we love. Its not that God will magically fix all of these problems so that we never feel pain and have a fantastic, carefree life, its that God gives us the opportunity to experience life in its full beauty. God gives us all of life including pain, sadness, joy, love, and everything in between. So, I think what Paul is trying to say to us here, is that Gods Grace is enough for us to overcome any battle. Even when unexplainable things happen in our lives, we must always have faith and know that God is walking every step with us. God loves us more than we can possibly imagine. Our homework is to just take the time to let God help us. We dont all need to be monks or nuns walking silently through the halls of a monastery or convent to feel Gods Grace; we just need to take time to see it right here, right now, in this Dome and at this Mass, and in the people and the world around us. In closing, fellow students, remember that even though you may be nervous about classes or making new friends that will pass. It may take some time, Ill be honest, but eventually everything does work out. All of us here at Catholics Alive have felt the way you may be feeling; and we want you all to know that everyone in this community of faith students, our faithful and supportive wisdom community- we are all available if you need any support. All of us try daily to be instruments of Gods Grace, so please let us know if there is anything you need or if you just want to talk to someone, whatever it is. Remember that there is nothing that overcomes Gods love for you. Gods blessings to you and good luck with everything this year. I hope your SIUE experience is a truly fantastic one. Thank you!