Part of our effort at Saint John is to create a joyous moment of encounter with the Catholic faith for each individual who comes here. We want to ensure that our Church is a safe and warm place where parishioners, visitors, and anyone who stops by tangibly feel they are respected and loved. But how do we do that with all the bustle of “work” or “personal issues”? We do it by treating each time we see and speak to another person as part of a relationship, a relationship with that individual and our relationship with God.
I was driving to work last week, and a story on the radio caught my attention. It may have been the most effective description of relationships I have ever heard. I wish I had caught the name of the person speaking, but I will do my best to describe why relationships (like our moments of encounter) should be handled like a butterfly.
When a butterfly lands on our hand, we have several possible reactions to it, just like when we are called into a relationship. We could be so shocked of the beauty of that butterfly that we freeze, and do not move. We are passive. The butterfly will soon fly away to find more fertile ground. Or, we could be so scared to loose the butterfly that we close our hands around it, possibly hurting it in our attempt to keep it just where we want it to be. If we did not hurt it, the butterfly will find a way out between our fingers and fly away, as frightened as we were to loose it. We will have scared it away by trying to contain it, or put rules around it. Or, we could nurture and respect the butterfly so much, that we simply put our other hand up to protect it from the buffering wind around us, creating a safe place for it to sit. The butterfly will stay with us, calmed and sheltered.
Let us make Saint John that safe, loving, joyous place where any butterfly can find peace.