through them

So today was insane.

I don't really know where to begin... I might break this up into a few posts. There's just a LOT on my mind.

I packed my life into two duffel bags and a laundry basket.. one bag for camp, one for weekends.. laundry basket with bedding and towels and books and a few odds and ends (a fold out floor-sized game of chutes and ladders from my secret santa, for instance). I'm also keeping a little laundry basket in the car with laundry detergent, granola bars, febreeze, and tanning oil. All you need to have a good weekend lol...

So packing was an accomplishment. Still have to figure out which t-shirts I can part with for the summer... but that will be an adventure for the morning.

Went to Mass tonight at the Cathedral and it was beautiful. The music and everything was good (I mean, it always is. It's the Cathedral.)... but God really treated me with some reassurance throughout the liturgy. He always gives us what we need, doesn't he?

I got to Mass and knelt to pray before it began and I put before Him that I was really nervous about tomorrow -- leaving everything I'm used to, going somewhere where I only know a few people, enterring into a really big challenge.. anyways, I opened my manual of prayers and it was a page I had never read before... some prayers by St. Frances de Sales:

Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life with fear. Rather, look to them with full confidence that, as they arise, God to whom you belong will in his love enable you to profit by them. He has guided you thus far in life. Do you but hold fast to His dear hand, and He will lead you safely through all trials. Whenever you cannot stand, He will carry you lovingly in His arms.

Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow. The same Eternal Father who takes care of you today will take care of you tomorrow, and every day of your life. Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it.

Be at peace then, and put aside all useless thoughts, all vain dreads, and all anxious imaginations.

And I prayed this prayer over and over, and as I looked up I realized that a man had sat down in front of me, and as he turned I realized he had Downes Syndrome. So for the rest of Mass, as I looked at the altar I looked past the man. When I looked at Christ, I looked through the man.

May that be my summer: gazing at Christ through the people I meet.

So Mass was wonderful... gained the strength I need to get this crazy summer started. Another prayer by St. Francis de Sales:

"O my God: Henceforth I resolve to strive earnestly to be patient and gentle, and not to allow the waters of contradiction to extinguish the fire of that charity which I owe to my neighbor."

Amen!