As the Year of Faith is drawing to a close, I was reflecting on if I had made any sustainable changes in my faith life. To my surprise the answer smacked me right in the face as I watched the news on my lunch break.
As I sat in the lunch room, a story came on that you may have heard. It goes something like this: a young woman was hit head-on by a drunk driver. She was barely clinging to life, and her vital signs were falling fast. The fire department’s equipment was failing, and they were having a hard
time getting her out. That’s when she asked them to pray with her.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a man dressed as a Catholic priest appeared, even though the road was blocked off for two miles. The priest prayed and gave the young woman the anointing of the sick as well as absolution. After this there was a calming on the scene, and the fire fighters equipment was working again. They were able to get her out and off to the hospital, and the priest had vanished.
That is when I realized what has been missing in my life. I have gotten so consumed in my hectic life, with work, a new baby, and my son’s sports. I was so consumed in all this that I didn’t leave time or was too busy to spend time in prayer.
Watching the news that day made me do some soul-searching: how could I be so busy as to not find time to pray? What is so important that I couldn’t spend some time talking to God our Father? Well, I will tell you what: nothing. I decided to make a change and get back to some time with our Lord.
And I will also tell you this: things don’t seem as chaotic, and I feel more relaxed. I am still busy with all the other things, but they don’t seem to consume me like they did before. If your life is anything like
mine, and you find yourself out of balance, I want to challenge you to spend some time in prayer with our Father.
“The Lord never tires of forgiving – never! It is we who tire of asking his forgiveness. Let us ask for the grace not to tire of asking forgiveness, because he never tires of forgiving. Let us ask for this grace”
— Pope Francis
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