“Eating Jesus Led me Home”

Over at Geek Goes Catholic, Jonathan Ryan writes occasionally and movingly about his reversion to Catholicism. This piece, and the vivid visual power of it, makes me think his story should be a film!:

He knows that some of the people in his small town look down on him and his family for being poor. Most of the time that doesn’t matter because he still has baseball, books that fuel his scary imagination, and the arms of the Catholic Church. He lives for stories, lives for going to mass, and lives to explore the outer realms of his imagination.

Oh, how he loves going to church. He loves going to mass every day, required of every kid who went to Catholic school. When he sits in the pew he stares at Jesus on the cross and wonders what it must have been like. He wonders, in a very Catholic way, what it would be like to hang on that cross, naked, exposed, and the darkness of the whole world resting on God’s human flesh.

One day, in a very innocent way, he lays out a wooden board on the grass. He outstretches his arms and tries to imagine Jesus’ pain. The grief, the sorrow, and the horror is too much for him, and the boy gets up and runs into the house. Tears stream down his cheeks. He spends the rest of the evening playing baseball in the side yard, trying to erase the images racing through his brain.

Even though he is poor, he is happy. He loves playing outside all the time. He loves riding his bike all over town. He loves going to mass, the beauty, taking the sacrament, and feeling close to God.

Then, one day, his parents inform him that they will be moving to St. Louis…

Read the whole thing. And take a second to welcome him home!

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