Thank You. I Love You.

The stadium was packed. The wind was blowing at 40mph, chilling the rain in to snow. At any other point in the season this would call for empty rows and empty sections.

But not that night.

Something special was about to happen.

Country music legend Garth Brooks rushed out on to the stage. Everyone cheered. Regardless of if they knew the lyrics, the crowd moved to the music, withstanding the wind and the rain to hear this man perform.

Then "Unanswered Prayers" played.

Cell phone lights filled the stadium, and mixed voices filled the air in gratitude to Our God for delivering us to the lives He gave us. Not the lives we predicted or wanted, but the lives made just for us.

The song ended, Garth looked to the sky and whispered in to his microphone

“Fuck.”

No one cared that he swore. Because in that moment, we were all somehow aware of how incredible that moment was for everyone. It was not a show anymore. It was a gift, an opportunity, a once in a lifetime experience that not even this seasoned professional predicted.

The stands remained full for the rest of the show.

We didn’t want to miss a thing.

As I stood in the crowd, listening to songs my parents sang to one another on the way home from Monga and Tata’s, I couldn’t help but thank God over and over in my mind. I thanked Him for my family that raised us to appreciate art, to love one another in all ways, to give glory to Him for everything. I thanked Him for the trials and setbacks which brought me to Notre Dame at the time He brought me. I thanked Him for the friends who stood beside me, behind me, and before me.

And it did not feel as though I changed my Jesus.

Because saying thank You to God does not change Him, nor does it change His everlasting, ever-present, never changing love for us.

Gratitude to Our God helps us hear “I love you” again and again and again.

God gives us gifts every day, regardless of our action. His mercy is always going out to us. All we have to do is be willing to receive it. All we have to do is acknowledge that there is something special here on this Earth, in our lives, and in our hearts.

We thank Him, and we hear “I love you” all over again.

Every smile, every tear, everything is a gift. All is gift.

And He makes sure that the imperfect love which comes our way becomes perfect in our hearts. He knows what we need, what we desire most, and He makes it possible.

But we need to stick around a while.

We need to stand in the storm and the cold of this exile, and when we think we are about to give up, we need to wait for just a minute longer.

Just one more minute with Jesus.

Then...as He reveals Himself...say thank You for every little thing you can think of.

All He’ll say in reply is “I love you”

There is in fact a space just like the stadium where we can encounter a Man even more humble than Garth Brooks. It’s a small space, but it is connected to so many other small spaces throughout the world. It holds billions of other souls in need of love. It holds the greatest love story ever told and the most beautiful love songs on Earth.

Mass.

Imagine if we waited for Jesus to come out on to the altar like we waited for a musician to come on stage.

Imagine if instead of worrying about where we go next we just waited for Jesus to sing in our hearts

Imagine if we looked up to the Heavens and whispered a simple “I love you” to God

All you will ever hear in Mass is “I love you.” It is the one place that we will never be rejected. It is the one place that we will always belong. Because when we have our Jesus in our lives, we will always belong. It doesn’t matter what anyone says or does or thinks; you will always be loved in the divine presence of Our Jesus.

Say thank You to Our Lord today.

He loves you

And so do I