Remembering the Devotion of our Youth

I remember the devotion of your youth,
how you loved me as a bride,
Following me in the desert,
in a land unsown.  Jer. 2:2

The Lord remembers the devotion of our youth… As I read the passage from Jeremiah in today’s readings I thought of my own devotion in my youth. It is always good to try to recapture youthful exuberance in our devotion and praise, although we have to realize that we change with time. So it isn’t that we recapture the same experience, but that we recapture the spirit of it.

Certainly, the devotion—the intensity of emotion—that I experienced as a teenage Pentecostal wouldn’t work for me today. This would be true even if I had never converted: even if today I were sitting here writing as a middle-aged Pentecostal. The Lord guides us to be ourselves in our expression of the faith and love that we have.

Nevertheless, I think we really ought to try always to recapture those moments in our lives when we remember being closest to God. It may be that our zeal and intensity serves better in our maturity as a dedication to the tasks that require maturity. It’s all about how our faith grows and changes as we grow older—yes faith matures, it changes as we change.

The zeal of a young person’s experience might be applied to the way that we serve our families, our spouses and children. It might be applied to our dedication to fasting, alms, and prayer. We might find zeal in living out the call to poverty, chastity, and obedience in a religious community or even in our daily lives as laity or diocesan clergy.

I was impressed with a video clip I found, which features a young religious sister receiving her vows. I was also impressed with the works I see featured on the sisters’ website. I thought how the style of worship featured in the clip might be hard to accept by the more traditional among us. Still, I try to make it a habit not to be judgmental. I see something authentic in the sisters’ devotion. As faith matures, the way we express it matures too.

Above all, I believe that it is important to seek the devotion of our youth when it comes to living a life pleasing to God—a life that considers the need for penance and spiritual formation—by seeking always to effect inner conversion.

As we grow older our experience of faith will surely change. Our interests will be different and how we express our love for God will change. However, it is up to us to keep it fresh. So long as we are genuine in our devotion we will continue to please God. God desires authenticity.

Comments

[Honora]

God desires authenticity. :-)

Amen.