Why Am I Doing This?

     In a recent holy hour, the question came to mind "why am I doing this?"  The question was not related to the holy hour, but to my vocation; Why am I becoming a priest?  Almost immediately, the answer came to mind; "You are doing this because you have encountered the love of Christ and you want to help others to experience that same love."  This may seem like a great epiphany, but it is actually nothing new.  In fact, it is a new spin on something I have prayed on many times.  I once heard it said that we should take our lead from the Blessed Mother (duh!) in the first two mysteries of the Joyful mysteries of the Holy Rosary.  In the first mystery, the Annunciation, the angel comes to Mary and announces that she will conceive the Son of God in her womb.  God comes to Mary, she has an encounter with Him.  What is Mary's immediate response after God comes to her?  She goes in haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth.  Moved by the love of God Mary must share that love with others, with those that she loves.

     Pope Francis spoke on this phenomenon in his first encyclical saying, "Those who have opened their hearts to God’s love, heard his voice and received his light, cannot keep this gift to themselves" (Lumen Fidei 37).  God's love is so amazing, makes us so happy that we cannot keep it to ourselves once we experience it.  We must go out and bring that love to others.  We experience this with things that have no lasting value too.  When I eat at a good restaurant, I want to share it with people so they can have good food too.  When I like a brand of electronics, I tell my friends about it so that they can have a better experience with their phone, tv, radio, etc.  If we are moved to share such mundane things with our friends, it only makes sense that we would share the good news of salvation and love with them too.