There is more of Christ in this...

I should be sleeping right now, but I feel like there's a lot I want to spill at the moment. Good conversations today...one that had to happen, another to encourage me along my path, a third to make me grateful for past lessons, and the last to remind me that I'm not dreaming. Thanks, everyone...

Praise God for confession. I have to say that Fr. John emanates holiness. No wonder he's my mom's favorite. I don't usually go to him, but he said some things that I needed to hear again. Tonight - maybe it was because of where I was sitting...not in my usual spot - that I was brought back to the days when I first started going to SPC about 2 1/2 years ago...when I did go to Fr. John's confessional...when I'd walk by the statue of St. Joseph and wonder about the mystery of who he was for Jesus and Mary and who he was for me.

Now I'm in the same but different place, if that makes sense. Same people, different people. Leaving an old life but taking it with me somehow in a way that seems to help others move forward as well.

Dear Lord, each transition can be difficult for me, but you're right there holding my hand through it all. You are the one constant in my life...the one person I know who will always be who you've always been. That's why I love you...simply because of who you are. There has never been a moment when you walked away...when you had enough of me...when it got too hard to bear my cross for me.

And every day there you are present in the people I see...the people I meet with and talk to...the people I teach and minister to...the people who sacrifice their time and energy just to be Jesus to me. May I never forget where to find you. May gratitude always fill my heart when you reach out and touch me through the souls who share your Spirit with me...many times without even knowing it.

Be with the people I pray for. As we walk separate paths from each other, please let them know that you are traveling with them...that this life is only temporary...that if they think they're happy now, they could - if so desired - ask for things here on earth yet grow in knowledge that they have a place prepared for them in Heaven.

That's all. Always more but never enough time and never enough words. As each day passes, my somedays get closer and closer. But it was just good knowing that I could look back and say thank you. Maybe they will never hear me, but the prayers still go out regardless. Grace knows no boundaries...even breaking through the walls of the heart.

So, yes, I keep praying.

A.M.D.G. + J.M.J.