Blogger’s Note: Originally published on the Saint Andrew Catholic Church and School website, July 18, 2018.

One of the spiritual practices I am trying to cultivate in my life these days is holy simplicity. For example, just today I finally ditched my sleek Motorola smartphone for a bulky blue flip-phone with very limited data capabilities. My smartphone had become a distraction from the things that matter—family, friends, and even strangers who are present to me in the moment—as well as a source of frustration and anxiety. I can’t remember how to get anywhere without Google Maps and at random moments through the day, I feel the phantom buzz of notifications that don’t exist. It’s too much.

So I’m trying to simplify: to limit the number and kind of things I am about and to do what I am doing. Continue reading →

Blogger’s Note: Originally published on the Saint Andrew Catholic Church and School website, July 11, 2018.

I came to Saint Andrew after leaving a great job as faith formation director at St. Michael Catholic Church to strike out on my own as a writer, speaker and evangelist. When I arrived here, my new career was not going according to plan: I had been unemployed for a couple of months and was getting up at 2:30 AM to sort packages for FedEx.

The part-time job I took here—communications, evangelization and outreach coordinator—was a godsend, and shortly afterward I drummed up enough freelance work to leave FedEx just as my spine was beginning to feel its age. My family had come through my unemployment without falling behind on bills, and I could clearly see that God was working in my life.

Then partway through last fall, the faith formation director here received a great job offer in the Cities. I, along with several others, stepped in to fill the void while we sought another director. The initial search was fruitless, and Fr. Mark began to nudge me to consider the role myself. Since I had just left a similar job at my home parish, I wasn’t particularly interested. But as my freelance project wrapped up, my bride and I began to wonder again how we would make ends meet. Jodi loved the prospect of steady, full-time income again. I told her and Father that I would pray on it.

I went to Adoration and raised the question with God. Not ten minutes in, He said to me, “Why do you think I put you there?”

He reminded me that He brought me here. He reminded me that I had the skills and experience to do the work well. And He urged me to be straight with Father about my concerns and needs.

Working here full-time has been a tremendous blessing—and as my spiritual director put it, I began to realize that God works not only in the big circumstances of our lives, but also in the details. He is placing us, moment by moment, where He wants us to be. Our job is to stay open to His plan, not to assume we know what He wants and run off on our own.

Over the past few months, however, I’ve again realized I haven’t been as open as I ought to be. This job has seemed like a safe haven from which I can plan my next endeavor while preparing Saint Andrew for a more permanent director. But each time I try to do something—anything—in addition to my work here, nothing goes according to plan. I began to wonder if God was again trying to tell me something—possibly, “Do what you are doing.”

Finally last week I had the opportunity to spend some time away. I rose early each morning to pray, read and reflect. One morning, I asked God specifically, “Am I where you want me to be?” I am currently reading a book of letters of spiritual direction from my patron, St. Francis de Sales, and that morning, I opened the book to the next letter:

Here I am writing you not knowing what to say except to tell you to continue joyfully along the heavenly path where God has placed you. I shall bless Him all my life long for the graces He has prepared for you. In exchange for this, you, on your part, should be ready to be totally abandoned to Him … Do not consider the importance of the things you do, for of themselves they are insignificant; consider only the dignity they have in being willed by God’s will, arranged by his providence, and planned according to His wisdom. In a word, if they are pleasing to God and acknowledged to be so, to whom should they be displeasing? – St. Francis de Sales to Madame Brûlart, June 1605

I choked up a bit as I read, knowing He was speaking to me through His saint. I was awash in peace knowing that He has placed me precisely where He wants me, and that He has the future well in hand.

I share this story to let you all know that I truly believe I am right where I’m supposed to be. I will be here as your director for as long as God’s good pleasure permits me to be, and we are going to do great things together. I am praying for you and your families, and I hope you will pray for me.