What does it mean when we say that someone is “coming out of their shell”?

I would guess that it could mean that someone is growing up, that someone has “found themselves” and know what they want to do with their lives. I guess it could mean many things.

At one time or another, we all have constructed a “shell” around ourselves to protect us from the “cold, cruel world.”

I remember someone I knew that was a very rough street kid. He lived on the streets but was a truly a street , and knew just about all there was to live on the street.

 Soon we became friends. And in time he got in trouble and  I found myself visiting him in jail. Though he was a very “tough” kit, he also was very lovable.

If I had to liken him to a vegetable, I would have to say he was an artichoke. If you ever have eaten one, you know that you have to deal with layers of hard leaves. But if you have the patience you will come to the heart which is delicious.

That is the way this kid was. If you were patient with him you would experience a sweet little kit hiding inside because he had been hurt so many times as he was growing up.

Siobhan Shaw the American author says to us today, “The Easter egg symbolizes our ability to break out of the hardened, protective shell we’ve surrounded ourselves with.”

Unfortunately. this kid never got the chance to break out of his shell completely. He died before he could. But I am sure that God had the right tools to chip away at his hard shell to become the person God intended him to be.

As we complete our Lenten journey, maybe we will allow God to chip away our hard shell so that we may become the creation God intended us to be, a creation in His own image.

Peace and All Good,

Fr. Vinnie, fcm and the

Bros and Srs of the

Franciscan House of Prayer.