Personal Restoration

"Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth."  In light of the celebration of Pentecost on Sunday,  here are a few thoughts about the idea of "renewal."

On a lazy Saturday morning recently, I found myself enjoying one of my favorite pass-times: watching TV.  As I began channel surfing, I came upon a show on the History Channel called American Restoration.  This show is about a crew of guys from Las Vegas who spend their time restoring old things to the way they were when they were first created.  Some of the items I watched them restore were a 1940s red Sav-Way toy wagon, a 1950s Matchless motorcycle, two 1920s gas pumps, and a 1930s horse track casino wheel.  What struck me as interesting, though, was the stories that some of the customers brought with them as they sought restoration for their items.  Many of the customers sought restoration as a way to connect them to events or people from their past.  Upon picking up their items, these customers were overjoyed with contentment over their fully restored items as they remembered such wonderful symbols of their upbringings.

Are their times in our lives when we long for our own personal restoration? If so, we can be sure that that longing is the Spirit at work in our lives.  After all, God created us in his image, so, like the items in American Restoration, we were once brand new.  But, throughout our lives we experience dents, chips, broken parts, and malfunctions that need restoring.  Thankfully, we have a loving and merciful God that we can bring ourselves to every time to receive total restoration.  In the Catholic tradition, we may choose to receive restoration through the sacrament of Reconciliation.  This is a tangible sign of God's forgiveness in our lives.  As a result of receiving this sacrament, we can confidently restore our place within our faith community ready to be living examples of God's divine restoration.

By frequently seeking our own restoration, we draw closer to the ultimate total restoration: The resurrection of Jesus.

May we be ever-faithful, ever-mindful, and ever-joyful.