Like a Kid in a Candy Store Post Conversion

This morning's Breviary reading (Monday Week II) is from Jeremiah:

When I found your words, I devoured them;

your words were my joy, the happiness of my heart,

Because I bear your name,

LORD, God of hosts. JEREMIAH 15:16

Around the time of my conversion I was working as a night auditor at one of the bigger hotels in the city.

The audit took a couple of hours though sometimes longer if the bar got a little "busy" outside.

Once finished, there was a lot of time left over. And, it was quiet.

So, out came the Rosary but most especially out came The Catechism Explained by Fr. Francis Spirago. The book was a gift from a Cistercian priest during a stay at his monastery (I spent many a Spring there).

To say that my mind and heart was voracious was an understatement. ;)

Read, pray, study. Read, pray, study.

This was the cycle for most of the first three years or so post conversion.

One Saturday morning near the end of my shift the hotel owner's son and his wife came in the front doors.

Being that it was usually busy I was at the front desk. The previous night's reading, prayer, and study was particularly neat so there was a "glow" if you will. ;)

After the morning pleasantries they walked away and I heard his wife say to him, "What does that guy have to be so happy about?"

… [it is] no longer I, but Christ [who] lives in me. Galatians 2:20

Indeed, as our faith develops and we discover more and more "candy" to dive in to, we can be overly focused on devouring it.

The moment that appetite became tempered was in a discussion with a fellow Catholic Christian about what they were reading at the time. This was probably three years or so from the Easter Vigil.

Their response was, "John, I realized that I needed to start to put into practice everything I was reading. So, I stopped the reading and started to practice it!"

Indeed. :)

SUGGESTION: Take up journaling. It can really help to process everything.

Pax,

John Everett