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Even catepillars can be God's instruments of hope
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By Mary Regina Morrell
"And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day" (Genesis 1:31)
As a lover of God's gift of wildlife, one of the things I like best about working where I work is the location - surrounded by fields and farmland and loaded with furry creatures of all types.
This year, in particular, there are an abundance of very fuzzy, very chubby wooly banded caterpillars - black on both ends and rust colored in the middle.
Now it takes me a little longer than usual to get home at the end of a day because I have to spend extra time picking these little guys up and moving them to the grass so I don't run over them when I pull out of my parking space.
Sure, some people think it's ridiculous to bother, especially when that caterpillar will eventually turn into a moth, but when I see something that is so obviously a sign of God's love for us I am not so quick to dismiss it with a stomp of my foot.
Signs of God's love are everywhere if we choose to see with the eyes of faith and, for many like me, the whole life process of a caterpillar transforming into a moth or butterfly is one of the surest signs of hope and the value of struggle in the journey toward new life.
So, when on one recent Sunday in October, a monarch butterfly appeared fluttering gracefully over the altar at our parish, I could see it as nothing other than a powerful sign of God's love for a parish community struggling with loss and change.
It was an amazing moment, as one of God's most elegant creatures, almost dancing to the sounds of sacred music, dipped and rose over and around the celebrant and altar. There it stayed, through the opening procession and the Liturgy of the Word until the moment of the Consecration when it journeyed across the church and came to light on a stained glass window of Christ over the choir loft.
During Communion the butterfly rested, its wings pressed together with a soft rhythmic pulsing - and then it was gone. We didn't see it leave any more than we saw from where it came but its presence was a gift to those of us who love our parish and who could see in that living creature a symbol of God's hope and new life for a community suffering from grief.
Later that day I discovered a little piece of information that made this butterfly appearance all the more special.
Beginning in August, the Monarch butterflies of New Jersey begin a long journey to Mexico where they will winter in the mountains joining millions of other Monarchs as they pass through the lower valleys on All Saints Day.
It seems this particular butterfly might have had a mission to accomplish that threw it off schedule, keeping it here until October; a mission to remind some hurting people that "what the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly." (Richard Bach)
_____________________________
Mary Regina Morrell is a syndicated Catholic columnist whose writing has received several awards from the Catholic Press Association. She is also the author of Angels in High Top Sneakers from Loyola Press and mother of six sons.
Contact
Diocese of Metuchen
http://www.diometuchen.org
NJ, US
Mary Regina Morrell - Associate Director, Office of Religious Education, 732 562-1990
mmorrell@diometuchen.org
Keywords
Hope, God,
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