We Get To Do This

A few years ago, I was in a parish facilitating discussions about how to grow the community of faith. The parish wasn’t in decline per se, but one might call it a little “sleepy.” As different ideas were being batted around among the participants, a few cynics emerged and I struggled to keep the group from moving from “brainstorm” into “debate.” At one point, I invited the group to step back and remember why they were there and what they were trying to do. One wise, older gentleman took it one step better: “Or, how about let’s remember that we get to do it and praise God for that honor.”

I had almost forgotten about that experience when at a recent Sunday Mass, a young, visiting Augustinian who helps at our parish was preaching about the importance of resetting our minds and hearts. He shared that in his community, when any of them or all of them get stuck in a cycle of complaining or cynicism, their code phrase to each other is: “Hey, we get to do this.”

Remembering that parish leader’s timely intervention and the Augustinian’s mantra, I couldn’t help but also remember some recent times where my own cynicism was keeping me locked in unhelpful patterns of thought and sin. I wondered in my role at work—or especially my role at home—where I might need to step back and declare with gratitude: “Hey, I get to do this.”

As we celebrate Our Lord’s Resurrection and rejoice in the ongoing ripple effects of salvation history, a history we not only benefit from but are called to be cooperators with, let’s be sure to remind ourselves and others that the Good News is not only what we have to share, it’s what we get to share. Happy Easter!