When we were younger and my husband and I enjoyed a great dinner out with friends, I sometimes would reflect back on the evening with a degree of embarrassment, realizing that we had told or heard the same tales and jokes with the same group of people before. But after a few years of this mild and intermittent regret, I came to a deeper awareness that the repeated stories are actually the best ones in many ways.
What a tremendous gift it is to know each other well enough and long enough to have good stories to retell. What a treasure it is to find a new detail in the hearing or the telling. How savory it is to own shared tradition, history, patience, and delight – memories exchanged, built, and reinforced in a living, personal, dynamic relationship.
In this year when our Archbishop is placing special emphasis on our involvement with Sacred Scripture (see his Pastoral Note), let’s delight in that idea as we explore or re-explore God’s beautiful stories – whether it be in the ancient cycle of readings at Mass, or during a class (Yay! We have so many choices — here and everywhere!), or in our own prayerful, intimate communication with the Word of God. The Author Himself has much to share with you and me, again and again, for our benefit.
Marian Bart