I’ve always thought myself to be a good Catholic boy. Oh, with a lot of behavior that is not perfect. I have the greatest respect for the commandments and the teachings of the Church. Together with my best friend, we raised 4 children, all good citizens now mostly productive adults.

Recently, in a Catholic men’s study group, I was able to review major areas of my faith: Love, Forgiveness, Humility, Prayerfulness, Faithfulness, Sacrifice, and Thankfulness. We twelve men met on Saturday mornings for 14 weeks in a row (only missing one at Christmas). Last Saturday, while listening to a video in the church basement, I heard the speaker talk about how he and his wife would say,  “I love you” to each other frequently, suggesting by his tone that we all had the same habit. He was right in my case. Then he mentioned that one time he said “I love you” to his wife and she replied back, “why?” As he went on to give the rest of the dialog that we all expected, I related to his story even more.

It occurs to me that as a good Catholic boy who grew up in a very loving relationship with his soul mate, although I say “I love you” many times to my wife, I have never said it to God the same way.

Kudos to: “Walking Toward Eternity” by Jeff & Emily Cavins (Ascension Press)