All of a sudden, it’s February. How did that happen, I
wonder? Something about the earth rotating every 24 hours and then revolving
around the sun in a 365-day cycle, and the moon revolving around the earth once
every 28 to 30 days, causing the tides to bulge, occasionally there are 29 days
in February but not this time, and oh yeah, now that the Super
Bowl is over, we can start talking about Spring Training…
Happily, there are some updates for the beginning
of February:
I’m into the final copy edit for Black Doves. I’m
taking extra time to do this because I’m a perfectionist. ‘Nuff said.
The Spring semester at I.C.L.A. is off and running to a
great start. We have 114 students this semester, which is a lot, in case you’re
wondering. Normally we have 85 – 95 at the top end. This is the graduating
class that was over-enrolled as freshmen, so that’s why there are so many of
them. But they are a good group, and my 24 work study students have so far been
very helpful.
I’ve begun doing Eucharistic Ministry to the homebound
through my parish. I started yesterday, partnered up with a woman who’s been ministering
to the homebound for ten years or so. We went to two facilities and did prayer
services along with distributing Communion. It is a blessing to all of us. I’m
also excited to be volunteering with the St. Francis Center in downtown L.A. to
start up an ESL program. We will be setting up a planning meeting soon.
Finally, my discernment process has taken me to a point
where I realize it’s not yet the right time to be overly-focused on one or
another religious order. I am in communication and relationship with a couple
of orders, and still contacting others as I discover them. But right now the
reality is that I have debt to pay down and ministry to do while my personal
relationship with God continues to deepen. The rest will come in due time, as the
Spirit leads me. Letting go of outcome is difficult (I know, I know, what else
is new?), especially in such weighty matters. However, I’m getting
the message over and over from every quarter: let go and trust Me! Wait for Me!
So that’s what I’m prayerfully doing, one step at a time.
On a somber note, last month was the fourth anniversary of
my mother’s death. It doesn’t seem like four years. I still have the impulse
every Sunday night around 8 p.m. to call her and talk about the week. Last
night I was thinking about it, and imagining what she’d say if I could talk to
her on the phone. She’d tell me about her day:
who was at Mass that morning, her coffee klatch with her two good
friends, Nancy and Sr. Gert, what she watched on TV (she would've watched bits of the Super Bowl in between other stuff), and what she ate for supper. Then we’d talk about my week, what
happened at work, the Dean’s roundtable event that we organized last Friday,
and of course my discernment process. And I’m certain that she would say, “Just
follow God’s lead, honey. There’s no reason to worry.” And that is the best
advice I can think of, so I’ll take it.
