A man had been reading a book on self-image and when he arrived home that night he said to his wife, "From now on, I want you to know that I am the man of this house, and my word is law! Now prepare me a gourmet meal, and a sumptuous dessert. Then, after dinner, draw me my bath so I can relax. And when I'm finished with my bath, guess who's going to dress me and comb my hair?"
"The funeral director," said his wife.
The best version of ourselves is less dangerous to attain than the above example and involves tapping spiritual sources very close to us. Christ has shown us what our restored image should look like. Becoming Christ-like may be the work of a lifetime, but we do not do it alone.
There are many stories of the presence of Jesus or even angels among us. Often we are not even aware when our guardian angel saves us. I recall an incident as a child when I was whisked to safety as if by an invisible hand.
In 1263 a priest was on a pilgrimage to Rome and was struggling with doubts. A pastor invited him to spend the night at an inn. Next morning as they celebrated the Eucharist and the pastor pronounced the sacred words, "This is my body", the host began to bleed. The priest's doubts vanished.
This is more than a pious story. Pope Urban IV instituted the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ the following year. The white cloth that caught the drops of blood is still on display at the cathedral of Orvieto, Italy.
Closer to home, Spirit Daily tells the story of a New York fireman who had a drinking problem and was overdoing it at an annual firemen's picnic upstate. Intoxicated, he'd wandered up a training platform and before he knew it was stumbling off, ready to plummet several stories below.
At the last moment, as he tumbled off, he said a hand grabbed his and yanked him back up onto the platform with one amazing motion. To his astonishment he was looking at a stranger who was a mirror image of himself, but dressed far more neatly and very clean-shaven, far different than the dishevelled fireman. It was as if this mysterious angel was showing him how he could and should be. The man simply disappeared immediately after.
Recently I had the privilege of hearing a personal testimony of Father Milton McWatch, the first full-blood native ordained into the priesthood. His inspiring story of how the Lord led him, through difficulties that included residential school abuse, to ministry in the church moved me deeply.
On one occasion Christ appeared to him with the crown of thorns imbedded in his head. Milton wanted to remove a thorn, but Jesus would not permit it. Another time Christ appeared as a warrior who grabbed Milton by the heart.
Father Milton's encounters with Christ are as real and believable as the psychological and physical scars he still bears. Through all this a loving Christ has been present to Milton just as He wants to be present in our lives.
