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One of the best spiritual books I have ever read is by Benedictine Brother David Stendhal Rast entitled: "Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer".  ​​​​​​​ I think of the words of that title as I prepare to leave Divine Mercy Parish after four truly blessed years and enter a new chapter of life. I must say the last few weeks have been an emotional roller coaster for me: fear, apprehension, excitement, exhaustion, being overwhelmed by love and affirmation. At times I have felt totally exhausted. However, as often appears in the Scriptures, there is the word BUT. In the midst of these feelings, the one thing that has remained constant is the feeling and awareness of deep gratitude in my prayer. 

Many years ago, I read the following excerpt from the autobiography of an individual’s spiritual journey. The image touched me deeply, and I would like to share it with you:   “I was on a train on a rainy day. The train was slowing down to pull into a station. For some reason I became intent on watching the raindrops on the window. Two separate drops, pushed by the wind, merged into one for a moment and then divided again—each carrying with it a part of the other. Simply by that momentary touching, neither was what it had been before. And as each one went on to touch other raindrops, it shared not only itself, but what it had gleaned from the other…I realized then that we never touch people so lightly that we do not leave a trace.”...

As I write this, I am remembering these words from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:   For everything that happens in life—there is a season, a right time for everything under heaven: A time to be born, a time to die; a time to plant, a time to collect the harvest;  A time to kill, a time to heal; a time to tear down, a time to build up;  A time to cry, a time to laugh; a time to mourn, a time to dance;  A time to scatter stones, a time to pile them up;  A time for a warm embrace, a time for keeping your distance;  A time to search, a time to give up as lost; a time to keep, a time to throw out;  A time to tear apart, a time to bind together; a time to be quiet, a time to speak up;  A time to love, a time to hate; a time to go to war, a time to make peace...

This song speaks to me! I want to share it with you, as it may speak to you as well! ...

​​​​​​​The acclaimed English actor, Sir Alec Guinness, in the first volume of his autobiography, Blessings in Disguise, recounts an incident that occurred while he was playing Chesterton’s priest sleuth, Father Brown. After a day’s filming, he was walking through a French village while still in costume, a cassock. A small boy ran up and took his hand, walking along, and chatting happily in French. Finally, he scampered off waving a cheerful, “Au revoir, mon pere!” Guinness records how smitten he was with the experience, wondering that the mere cassock of a priest could inspire such childlike trust and joy. Eventually, Alec Guinness and his wife Merula would be received into the Catholic Church.