We Are LOVING STONES. We Are the Church. We Are Meant to Become Saints!

Eleven of Jesus’ original Apostles became Saints, pillars of the Church.

Endowed with the ability to speak in tongues beyond their own, they were sent to spread the Good News of the Gospel across the land.

This charism came with the arrival of the Holy Spirit and not by their own efforts to be ready to be transferred to places like India.

Charisms are special gifts that the Holy Spirit graces us with that take us above and beyond what we can do with our natural gifts and talents.

Dizzy yet?

I’m just amazed at all of the God-given talents that people have all around me. Each of us were made in the image of God and make up the Body of Christ, the Church.

While the Word is the foundation of who we are in Christ, each one of us will be called to make our lives as LOVING STONES a part of the entryway, the ceiling, or even the pillars.

Biblically, we know that Jesus is the “cornerstone”.

“[We are] built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually[f] into a dwelling place for God..” (Eph 2:20-22)

Who we are in Christ as a collective identity takes me to imagined heights beyond my immediate comprehension. Only the Lord knows the true big picture. God is the great Architect.

He knows what each one of us is made of because he is the Great Creator of each of us. I might have an idea of where I want to be in that big picture, but time and again, the Lord makes it apparent that he has a bigger blueprint for which I am not given access.

The more I try to throw myself as a LOVING STONE into something for which I was not created, the Lord casts me back into the pile of stones and forced to wait patiently for him to put me in the right place at just the right time.

Sometimes, as LOVING STONES, we are placeholders for others. Sometimes we are made part of the road to get others to the Church.

At other times, we might be made part of the protective walls put up outside and around the Church. While not fully employed, we might be used to secure other parts of the “great temple of the Lord” for the time being.

We are always in a cyclical state of being and becoming until we are finally saints, forever fitted into the Lord’s great temple of great love, where the Holy Spirit dwells to offer Soul-Oriented Love.

We shelter those who need protection, guidance, and sustenance long enough to trust that they too were meant to be LOVING STONES and well on the pathway to sainthood.

Together we are the Church. We are the spiritual Body of Christ. We all have much to offer the world. We were designed to serve as One Love.

What are your gifts and talents? Was there a time in your life when you were graced with a charism?

Where might the Lord be calling you to serve today as a LOVING STONE of Christ within the life-long cycle of being and becoming?

This Pentecost, check out our gift to you, Work of Art.

It is both an audiobook that you can listen to on the way to work or play, and a visual guide for you to see exactly what we are talking about.

It is designed to help you discover, refine, and employ your God-given talents however you are called by God Almighty Father to be. It’s posted on YouTube at Work of Art audio/visual recording.

About Cindy Kolak:

Cynthia Cardenas-Kolak is a lifelong learner, teacher, independent scholar, and author who has trained other trainers, teachers, and administrators on best instructional practices for diverse learners. She has been a member of Prince of Peace Catholic Community for seven years and resides in northwest Houston with her husband and son. As an active participant in her parish, she has served in multiple roles including pastoral care volunteer, funeral coordinator, small group facilitator of book studies with Catholic WE and the parish at large, LOVING STONES, and has a strong calling to the New Evangelization.

Favorite Scriptures: “Give thanks to the Lord on the harp; on the ten-stringed lyre offer praise. Sing to him a new song; skillfully play with joyous chant.” (Ps 33:3)

“Call to me, and I will answer you; I will tell you things beyond the reach of your knowledge.” (Jer 33:3)