Who I Am

Okay, okay. If you are a bit perplexed by my choice of this cartoon for a Faith Friday visual, let me tell you I was right there with you on Thursday morning.

I thought I already had a promising idea for my topic and had been praying about it, jotting down some notes and mentally composing it earlier this week. However, as I was sitting with yesterday’s daily Mass readings, poof. The Holy Spirit intervened and just like that I had a new topic for reflection plus a realization that the Spirit can exhibit quite the quirky sense of humor.

I confess to watching “Popeye the Sailorman” cartoons as a child. Even then, I realized there was a lot of violence involved, which was justified to my immature way of thinking, as I rooted for Popeye and Olive Oyl against their nemesis Bluto. Ultimately, it was the consumption of a can of spinach that gave Popeye the bicep muscles to win the day.

What was it in the September 19th Mass readings that sent me down this road? Blame it on Saint Paul and First Corinthians 15, verse 10: “By the grace of God I am what I am and his grace to me has not been ineffective.”

Unlike cartoon character Popeye, we can rely on a supernatural gift from God…grace…for our strength. Grace is true strength, spiritual strength. Let’s all be grateful we do not have to depend on our muscles plus a can of (yucky!) spinach for that!

As faith-filled Christians who trust in God, we would not say (albeit with better grammar than Popeye), “I am what I am and that’s all that I am.” No! We were created in His image to be beloved daughters and sons of our King. We are so much more than the sum of our parts and the things we can accomplish. We are His. He gives us grace as a free and undeserved gift. May we all take advantage of it.

Please continue to pray for an outpouring of the gift of grace on yourselves, your family, the Church, this world. Let Him bring you out of any darkness and help you be so much more effective as a beloved Child of God with His grace.

Enjoy the following musical reminder of just who you are: Who I Am