Today I got mine.

Today's church readings depicted God giving us gifts for us to use to spread His glory, and they really spoke to me. The second reading was from 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, and is as follows:

There are many different gifts, but it is always the same spirit. There are many different ways of serving, but it is always the same LORD. There are many different forms of activity, but in everybody it is the same GOD who is at work in them all. The particular manifestation of the SPIRIT granted to each one is to be used for the general good. To one is given from the SPIRIT the gift of utterance expressing wisdom; to another the gift of utterance expressing knowledge, in accordance with the same SPIRIT; to another, faith, from the same SPIRIT; and to another, the gifts of healing, through this one SPIRIT; to another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another, the power of distinguishing spirits; to one the gift of different tongues and to another, the interpretation of tongues. But at work in all of these is one and the same SPIRIT, distributing them at will to each individual.

After hearing this, I couldn't help but think about the way I've been feeling lately (Reference: Blog titled, "Half Way to Forty-Five"), and this bible verse seemed to help me understand. I have many gifts, and it ultimately doesn't matter what they are, except that I should be using them, not for my own benefit, but to glorify my LORD and to bring about greater good. But as portrayed in my previous blog, I have also been struggling with the fact that I've yet to do anything with my gifts. I feel like I've done very little with my life. Thus continued these thoughts and thus continued mass. The Gospel was read: John 2:1-11, and to shorten it for you all, here is my version of the story:

Jesus had been living with his parents growing and gaining wisdom. Then one day, there was a wedding in Cana that Jesus and his mother attended. Before long, they ran out of wine. So JESUS performing one of his first miracle works, turned six stone water jars of water into wine. This was the first of Jesus' signs, in which he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed him.

Okay so I listened to this story, but it wasn't until my priest's Homily that I really understood what GOD was trying to say to me. Again, my version:

My priest said, that like us, JESUS was given gifts from the HOLY SPIRIT. And while living with his family, he was learning and perfecting those gifts in order to use them to the best of his ability. And it wasn't until this moment, this wedding, in which he changed water into wine, that he first revealed his glory. Before that, he was just a regular old Joe, just like all of us.

So while I have been feeling like I have done nothing to better the world, perhaps this is my time to be perfecting my gifts, for I am in college, learning and growing, both intellectually and spiritually. Right now I am just a regular old Joe, but perhaps I've just been preparing for my "first great miracle," in which I truely share GOD'S glory, through a gift of my own. Maybe it will be my first book... or my first job... who knows? But this just goes to show, that if you ask the LORD for His help, He will get you an answer in his own time. Today, I got mine.