“Jesus in the Stairwell”- that was my immediate caption to this picture that my sister Lisa took during Saturday night Adoration. At first I thought the stairwell wasn’t the most becoming location for a photo op. I mean, stairwells are those places with no décor, full of brick and concrete. They are more out of purpose and less about “show”. Maybe I also kind of think of creepy stuff happening in stairwells. I’m sure that’s because I’ve seen too many movies where people are trying to escape some evil in places like that. When I’m in a stairwell, I usually want to get out of it as soon as possible and get to my destination.

My other thought about the picture was that there was no one around Him adoring him. Doesn’t he deserve a picture with at least some hands raised up towards Him? Some reverent faces gazing up at Him? He’s all alone! But then I thought again. How like Jesus to turn His back from the spotlight and to seek out the person at the bottom of the stairwell. How like Him to prefer this humble spot to reveal His glory. After all, He came to us from the womb of a humble virgin. And when he was laid in a manger, did you know that it is actually a feeding trough for animals?

“Behold, the scandalous love of God revealed! For He is Emmanuel. He is God with us.” – Fr. Chris Martin #steubystl #catholicstl #steuby18

A post shared by Steubenville St. Louis (@steubystl) on Jul 21, 2018 at 8:30pm PDT

How do you describe what seems indescribable?

This is my sixth experience of Saturday Night Adoration at a Steubenville conference, and every time I try to describe the time, and every time words fail me. After some reflection, I realize that this inability to voice my encounters with Christ are normal. I am human, of course I can’t properly communicate a non-human encounter. I believe that each and every person in this arena tonight will agree.

But this is the beauty of Christ. Where words fail, God speaks. He reveals Himself to us in a way that we can receive and whether or not we can understand the encounter at the time, we know He is there. He understands that we, in our finite human capacity, need to encounter Him on our own level. He comes to each and every one of us in our own unique way, whether He brings us to our knees in tears, or He calms the seemingly unending storms within our hearts. He knows our hearts better than we ever will know them, so he speaks to each one individually because He is all-loving AND all-powerful.