As Jesus got into a boat, his disciples
followed him. Suddenly a violent storm
came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he was asleep. They came and woke him, saying, “Lord, save
us! We are perishing!” He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O
you of little faith?”
Why are we always so terrified of change? Well, today is “Day One” of my new assignment here at All Saints (I was about to type St. Monica!). I woke up in a different room. I showered in a different bathroom. I felt like a fish in a boat! I felt out of place. I went over to the kitchen. Found my favorite cereal (that was a pleasant surprise), found a bowl, poured the cereal into the bowl, went over to the refrigerator, opened the door, and, to my unpleasant surprise, found no milk. I thought to myself, “How could this be! Four priests live here and there isn’t any milk!!!” I should know better by now! Men!
The only moment I felt at home was when I began morning Mass. I felt like I was back in familiar waters.
Very few of us like change. We just don’t seem to handle it well. But with that said, I truly believe we were all made for change! Look at yourselves! Are you the same person you were ten, twenty or thirty years ago? Of course not! You have changed! We were made to be flexible (even though that changes as well), but we should be careful not to get too comfortable in our very own skin, for strengths or weaknesses come and go, and our minds are never really ever made up! We were made for change.
We were created to discover. We are explorers at heart. And when we can’t explore, we send others to do it for us. The Voyageur spacecrafts and Curiosity were made solely to discover. And both are surrounded by bitter coldness, loneliness and danger. We are not so far removed from them. Everywhere we go we find loneliness, darkness and danger. But we were made to handle it. We were made for moments like these. Why are you terrified? Have some faith!
Faith is the great equalizer. Believe it or not, we were made to handle the storms! We are real storm chasers! Life is a storm, a ride! Our hearts, our minds, our souls were not made for calm waters. We were made to go out into the storm.
We Christians are a blessing to our world. We are the great explorers. We seek the lost and the lonely. We are not afraid of confronting an angry crowd or an unruly mob! We are the great unifiers. We seek to bring unity and life where there is only death and division. We are Pro-Love and Pro-Life. We can love our enemies as much as we love our friends. We can make room for both a woman and her child!
We were not made to be still. Instead, we were made to go out throughout the world and baptize!
The secret to handling change is to hold Christ’s hand. Where He is, I too want to be. And it doesn’t matter where He is. He could be nailed to a Cross. He could be in the midst of an adoring crowd. It doesn’t matter. Wherever He is is the best place for me.
We were made to change. This is not our final home.
Thank you All Saints for making this my new (and still temporary) home.
Why are we always so terrified of change? Well, today is “Day One” of my new assignment here at All Saints (I was about to type St. Monica!). I woke up in a different room. I showered in a different bathroom. I felt like a fish in a boat! I felt out of place. I went over to the kitchen. Found my favorite cereal (that was a pleasant surprise), found a bowl, poured the cereal into the bowl, went over to the refrigerator, opened the door, and, to my unpleasant surprise, found no milk. I thought to myself, “How could this be! Four priests live here and there isn’t any milk!!!” I should know better by now! Men!
The only moment I felt at home was when I began morning Mass. I felt like I was back in familiar waters.
Very few of us like change. We just don’t seem to handle it well. But with that said, I truly believe we were all made for change! Look at yourselves! Are you the same person you were ten, twenty or thirty years ago? Of course not! You have changed! We were made to be flexible (even though that changes as well), but we should be careful not to get too comfortable in our very own skin, for strengths or weaknesses come and go, and our minds are never really ever made up! We were made for change.
We were created to discover. We are explorers at heart. And when we can’t explore, we send others to do it for us. The Voyageur spacecrafts and Curiosity were made solely to discover. And both are surrounded by bitter coldness, loneliness and danger. We are not so far removed from them. Everywhere we go we find loneliness, darkness and danger. But we were made to handle it. We were made for moments like these. Why are you terrified? Have some faith!
Faith is the great equalizer. Believe it or not, we were made to handle the storms! We are real storm chasers! Life is a storm, a ride! Our hearts, our minds, our souls were not made for calm waters. We were made to go out into the storm.
We Christians are a blessing to our world. We are the great explorers. We seek the lost and the lonely. We are not afraid of confronting an angry crowd or an unruly mob! We are the great unifiers. We seek to bring unity and life where there is only death and division. We are Pro-Love and Pro-Life. We can love our enemies as much as we love our friends. We can make room for both a woman and her child!
We were not made to be still. Instead, we were made to go out throughout the world and baptize!
The secret to handling change is to hold Christ’s hand. Where He is, I too want to be. And it doesn’t matter where He is. He could be nailed to a Cross. He could be in the midst of an adoring crowd. It doesn’t matter. Wherever He is is the best place for me.
We were made to change. This is not our final home.
Thank you All Saints for making this my new (and still temporary) home.
we are thrilled you are at All Saints! You are now closer to us, and we are DEFINATELY going to see you more often. It is very important for wonderful priests like you to recide for some amount of time at as many parishes as possible. The kids really need priests like you, and I need you to keep telling the TRUTH of the Catholic faith. We LOVE you.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to All Saints!!!!! We are so happy to have you here. You will get used to All Saints and you will love being here! :)
ReplyDeleteFound my favorite cereal (that was a pleasant surprise), found a bowl, poured the cereal into the bowl, went over to the refrigerator, opened the door, and, to my unpleasant surprise, found no milk. I thought to myself, “How could this be! Four priests live here and there isn’t any milk!!!” I should know better by now! Men!- you are SO ! adorable Father :) you remind me of my Julio he likes certain things a certain way, he is very particular and a extremely pick little boy lol, he will be turning 10 on the 7th of JULY !. Well we are so happy that you feel right at home again and you know those precious children at All Saint will fall over heals over you, Father Alfonse :)
ReplyDeleteI have good news to tell you ...................... tell you in detail when it's a proper time to tell you or the time comes ,don't want to jinks myself LOL!
God bless you and take care :)
Father Alfonse,
ReplyDelete"The secret to handling change is to hold Christ’s hand. Where He is, I too want to be. And it doesn’t matter where He is. He could be nailed to a Cross. He could be in the midst of an adoring crowd. It doesn’t matter. Wherever He is is the best place for me."
You are absolutely right. Yesterday i felt such an overwhelming sadness so where did i go during my lunch hour, i went to Adoration and poured my heart out.