Hurtling toward Christmas

The next two weeks will be quite busy for me. I have...

• A major deadline at work on Christmas Eve
• A party at our home next Saturday
• Several volunteer commitments, including meetings, fundraising recruiting for Honduras, etc.
• At least one or two parties to attend
• Oh, and pretty much all of my Christmas shopping yet to do.

So perhaps I can be forgiven for succumbing to briefly hyperventilating every once in a while.

But when I finally stop for a moment or two and think, really think about how I'm going to do what I need to do, I realize that I can't do it. At least not by myself. I have to stop and unburden myself and let God take over, because otherwise this is not going to end well.

So earlier today I read the readings for Mass, and the second reading reading really spoke to me where I am and have been:

The Lord is near.
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Yes, the Lord is near. But I have not been present enough to the Lord, and so my burdens weigh me down. But it is a new week ahead, full of new possibilities, challenges and opportunities -- and a chance to scratch a few things off my list. Yet the thing I need to do most -- and I need to do it every day -- is "by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make (my) requests known to God".

This week I will make a special effort to make time for God, to be quiet for a little while and find me true center, the place where God abides within me and answers the prayers and petitions of my heart.

Take me by the hand

I am starting to stress out.

There is a lot going on, between work, my professional volunteer work, and my parish volunteer work...not to mention Christmas. Then there is the Honduras trip. Starting the process with only four months to do everything is starting to feel like quite a challenge. There have been a couple of times already when I started thinking about what needs to be done and figured out and I could just feel my heart rate picking up.

A few weeks ago I did a witness talk at Mass that touched on my experience in Honduras last year, about how there were days during the planning stage then that I was similarly anxious. Also how during the trip I was so overwhelmed by all that was happening and the decisions that needed to be made. I talked about how at those times I could truly feel God coming and taking hold of my hand and leading me through it.

And so I should not be surprised that when I read the readings for today, right after I was stressing about the trip, here is the first thing I read from Isaiah:

"I am the LORD, your God,
who grasp your right hand;
It is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I will help you.”

So often this is how I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life, that when I look to him for help, God sets before me the exact words, the very person, or precisely the resources I need when I truly need them. After this has happened to me so many times, it puzzles me how I can ever forget it.

And yet I do. Which is why I keep a (growing) collection of quotes and books at my desk to remind me, including the Prayer of St. Teresa, my favorite quote from Jeremiah 29:11-14, and a little section from the Golden Counsels of St. Francis de Sales:

Do not think about what will happen tomorrow, for the same eternal Father who takes care of you today will look out for you tomorrow and always. Either he will keep you from evil or he will give you invincible courage to endure it.

So once again I feel God taking me by the hand, and that is a comforting feeling indeed.

Returning to Honduras

After much thought and prayer I have decided to lead another trip to Honduras March 20-28, 2010. You can learn more about the trip at my Global Village Website . You can also read accounts of last year's trip here (hit 'Newer Posts' after each post). I welcome anyone interested in joining the trip -- just shoot me an email with your contact info via this site. And if you can't make the trip, please make a donation of any amount to support the team. You can donate online here.

There is far less time to recruit members and raise money than there was last year, and I confess that I'm a little antsy about being able to pull it off in time. But every time I start feeling anxious I remember the Lord called me to do this, and through the Lord I will find a way.