Settling In and Some Gratitude

06-10-2018Weekly ReflectionFr. Brian Jazdzewski

There has been a whirlwind of activity, decisions, emotions, thoughts, etc. following the news of my new assignment, our recent church fire, life, etc. In the midst of it all, I seem to think some gratitude ought to be extended to some of the major players in these recent episodes of the game called life. These people/groups need a little recognition: The Fountain City and other area Fire Departments; Scott Curtis (local attorney) who provided some food and beverages for the firefighters and other responders on the day of the fire; The Buffalo County Sheriff's Department and other law enforcement agencies; local and other vendors who assisted with electrical, HVAC, LP and other responses to secure the church; Catholic Mutual Group Insurance; ServiceMaster Restore for quick action on cleaning; Steve Duellman who will be the general contractor for the restoration process.

There are also individuals along the way who provided aid in countless ways; some of them requested to remain anonymous; some of them I've already forgotten by name and action. Let it suffice to say that each of us needs to be grateful to those who responded to help us regain some order to a very disordered situation. People were, and are, shocked by the vandalism, smoke and fire damage in the church. So we ought to continue to beg the Lord for healing that we can restore our actions of praising Him in our church building soon.

Along the way, Catholic life continued to transform throughout our Church. We concluded Easter with the celebration of Pentecost. Then we celebrated the Solemnities of the Holy Trinity and Corpus Christi on the past two weekends respectively. Now, we settle into some weeks of Ordinary Time until the beginning of a new year in Advent 2018.

There is a big part of me, deep down inside, which welcomes these weeks of Ordinary Time. Sure, I enjoy and appreciate the elevated liturgical days of the Church and celebrate them well. However, my relationship with the Lord is rather regular and ordinary, though I do not mean, dull. That revelation is in no way an invitation for sympathy, nor is it a reason for me to apologize about how God reveals Himself to me.

In other words, I join many of us in seeking God in the regular, ordinary activities of daily life. I do not need a lot of glitz and glamour from God to know He is present and very active in my life. Sometimes the elevated liturgical days, though great to celebrate, overshadow the regular ordinary activity of God. And so we have once again come to the Season of Ordinary Time. A time for each of us to settle into an ordinary relationship with God, who may, along the way, reveal Himself in some glitz and glamour of life. So the settling in has less to do with where we physically live and more to do with the space we provide in our daily life to make room for God. And yes, it's our role to make room for God. We want to be gracious hosts of Him who calls us which means we reduce the resistance for Him to enter in. That means we do our part to reduce our distractions so that God has a big space in which to dwell with us.

Ordinary Time will carry us through the summer and into autumn. Whether it's these upcoming weeks, or whatever day of the year, as His subjects we continue to seek His face. So, perhaps each of us can take the opportunity to once again settle into our relationship with God so that we continue to grow with Him and discover the endless bounty of graces He desires to shower upon us.

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