St. Joseph the Worker
Colossians 3:14-15,17,23-24 | Psalm 89(90):2-4,12-14,16 | Matthew 13:54-58
Whatever your work is, put your heart into it as if it were for the Lord and not for men, knowing that the Lord will repay you by making you his heirs. It is Christ the Lord that you are serving. (Colossians 3:23-24)
There was a time when I would go through the motions of serving God, and would sometimes even stop entirely.
At some points during this past week, a tiny part of me longed for those days again, for the serenity of being uninvolved in others’ pain, for the freedom to do my own thing, for the lightness of not caring.
The rest of me wept at my own impotence, arriving too late to coordinate, mediate and advocate for my fellow liturgical ministers as my responsibility dictates, and balancing precariously on a pin-head’s worth of second-hand information.
And then I was smacked in the head with the double sign of Jonah.
Looking back with a certain dispassion, I think I understand now why my week devolved so badly: it was God’s way of getting my attention. It sorta worked before, but I was perhaps too distracted with getting Christmas sorted, to pay attention to the underlying message.
O God, I am truly sorry that I shut out your call all these years. Like Jonah before me, I’ll stop running away now. Lead me to where you want me to do Your will.
✞ ✞ ✞ ✞ ✞
There’s a distinct possibility that I may be called away from the parish of my youth, of decades steeped in love, anger, joy, and pain.
I’d depart with a somewhat heavy heart, but after over a year of opening myself up to Him and all you brothers and sisters, I’ve inadvertently boxed myself in…His love, that is. I don’t see any other option, but to go where He points, and labour in His plan as He commands.
I’ll probably be terrified at how much I’d have to learn and change in the process, but with the grace of God, I’ll still keep faith in Him, and hope always in His love.
I think I’ll be OK.
Amen.