The Holy Spirit Always Comes Through

I don’t write for the sake of writing.  I write when I have something to say or share.

I’ve not written for about three months, but in the last few days I feel like I want to share something.

In 30 days will be a 3-year anniversary.  One that changed my life.  Allow me to tell the story.

Being a Catholic is a privilege, whether all of us who are Catholic realize it or not.  I don’t mean to say that others who are not Catholic can’t or don’t believe in God.  That is far from the truth; however, perhaps since I have been Catholic all my life, I don’t know what it means to be anything else.

Our past shapes our lives.

As a child I had the good sisters of the Franciscan order to guide me in elementary school and a wonderful priest by the name of Father Richard Danielak as my pastor.  As a child, of course, he could do no wrong and I respected him like no other.  I was more than sad when he left our parish and moved on to another parish.  Even though I was still a child, I remember being crushed that he was leaving and I cried for days.  He was the only priest I had ever known.  There is no question in my mind that between the nuns and Fr. Dan, as we called him, I am the person I am today.

I am sure I am not singular in this.  There is no doubt so many of you who visit this website can likely say the same thing.  How we are cared for, taught and guided in our early years clearly shaped our future.  Does this mean all who begin the way I did, are true and practicing Catholics today?  No, unfortunately, that is not the case.  But there is a part of me who pray that those who have strayed and consciously chosen to leave the Catholic faith will find their way back.

The Middle

I’ve spoken of the beginning years of my life.  As many know, the middle years of one’s life can be swallowed up by the trappings of work, family, and so many other things.  That happened to me as well.  But my faith in God was never a question.  I loved Him when I was 6, 36…. And 60, and always will.

Life takes a turn

However, after working for 45 years for virtually the same company, my work life took a turn to the right.  I’d always planned or prayed that some day I’d work for the Catholic church, or at least volunteered when I retired.  But, in my case, while I and my business associates worked from home during covid, my heart began to send me in the direction of my parish as a place to serve God, instead of serving the corporate world.

I talked casually one day with the parish pastor, Fr. Pat, about volunteering.  During a bereavement meeting following the death of my mother, with he and the pastoral administrator, I even commented to him privately, that I wanted the pastoral administrator’s job someday.  And honestly, what was to happen in the months to come, I did not plan.

I made an appointment with the pastoral administrator of the parish about volunteering, in the church office, not as a member of one of the ministries.  After some conversation, she suggested a position which had been advertised.  I asked about my being able to do it on a part-time basis vs. full time, which is how the position was advertised.  She thought that might work.  I then said that I’d like to pray on it and think it over.

Upon my follow-up meeting with her, she told me that she had reviewed it with Fr. Pat and he immediately as if I would accept the position on a full-time basis, not as a volunteer, but as an employee.  I was not prepared for this.  I had a position which paid me a very lucrative salary.  And I wasn’t so naïve to think that I didn’t know that the Church would pay far less.  So, after some discussion, I told her I’d need time to think about it.

Decisions….  Decisions

Could I pay my bills?  Could I walk away from 45 years and a managerial position and trade it all in for a starter position with the Church and be willing to take a 60% cut in pay?  Needless to say, I didn’t have my hopes up.  Where could I go for advice?

So, on the practical side, I visited a financial analyst to determine if I still could sustain myself after so many years of being easily secure in my finances.  He said “yes”.  Then I began the difficult decision of determining if this is really what I wanted to do.  I found myself in church a lot by myself, praying and hoping to get a sign from God that this was the right thing to do.  I was secure in my ability and skills to do the job but was this right for me?  You see, I’d never been unemployed in my life since I started to work when I was 16.  I never worried about having a job.  I had never taken what I believed was the bold step of resigning from a job, let alone one of absolute security.  I talked to a friend, who also happened to be an executive of the corporation I worked for.  He was clearly shocked that I was leaning strongly toward leaving.  He said something I’ll never forget.  Doug was also a man of faith and dedicated to his church as well.  He said to me “I wish I had the courage to do what you are doing.”

I don’t know that it was so much courage as it was a desire to serve God.  However, there was a fear that I would be venturing into a world of the church, which I had come to find out later, was different behind the walls than it was each Sunday when I sat in the pews.

So, what was my next move?  Of course, I went to where I expected answers.  I went to church.  I had sent an email to our pastor, Fr. Pat, telling him of my struggle in making this decision.  I didn’t want and didn’t expect him to tell me how to decide, but knowing Father Pat, I thought he might be the vessel through which The Holy Spirit would show me the way.  He also said something to me, I’ll never forget.   He said the following in response to an email I sent to him………..

“You know, one way of looking at this is that you can't make a wrong decision!!

If you stay where you are, as your plans were, there is always a way to share your gifts with Jesus through Incarnation Church.  Also, there is even a likelihood that a job position here would be open whenever you are seeking.  Your skills would allow you to fit into a number of possibilities.  Also, you can help now in your spare time.

If you decide to take a leap now, sooner than you had planned, and take a job, the Lord will take care of you because you are a survivor and diligent in so many ways.

It is also quite likely that the Lord Jesus, the Father and the Spirit don't have a preference, since all your options can clearly be in line with the Kingdom of God!!

I was in church alone on a Sunday afternoon when I heard the “ding” on my phone that a new email had been received.  For some reason, I felt it was important to stop praying and read it.  It was Fr. Pat’s response.  To this day, I am convinced that the Holy Spirit spoke through Father Pat.  I felt like his words gave me permission to do what I wanted to do but was afraid to do.  I had made my decision.

I failed to mention that for a time, I was performing both jobs, my old and my new, but sitting in the pastoral offices as a volunteer for a few months.  As an HR Manager, I wanted to ensure that the position was not only a good fit for me but also a good fit for the Church as well.

A Weight is Lifted

So, the next afternoon, I walked to the pastoral offices to tell the administrator I had made my decision to accept the position.  However, she was not there.  So, I elected to see if Fr. Pat was in his office.  He was.  I took the opportunity to tell him of my decision, and the first thing from his mouth was “Praise the Lord”.  And as I was soon to find out was his desire for all meetings, we prayed together to thank Jesus and the Holy Spirit for the guidance in making this decision.

Reassurance from Above in a Sweet Way

But I had one other difficult task and that was to tell my vice-president at my current employer that I was leaving.  It was just 2 weeks earlier that he promoted me to higher level of management….one that I had always wanted since the day I started in 1976.  In my world, I was giving up a lot.  But somehow, I also felt I was gaining so much.  So, I wrote a letter saying goodbye to the company who had been very good to me for 45 years, for a job that I could only hope would be right for me.  The next day, while still a volunteer, I sat in my church office.  It was nearing 6 PM.  I had yet to send the email with the resignation letter.  But as 6 PM came, I heard the church bells outside my window on a beautiful summer evening.  I remember thinking, as I write this, those church bells were a sign the Holy Spirit was telling me to hit “send” and that I would be happy working for Jesus, Fr. Pat and the staff, who I had gotten to know for the last few months.  I did.  Within 5 minutes I received an email back from my boss asking me how much more money would it take for me to retract my resignation.  I am sure the evil one was working to tempt me with money.  But my heart had made the decision and I told him no.  I worked out a reasonable time for transition and he accepted my decision.

Since then………

A year later, Fr. Pat lent me a book called “Halftime”.  I had spent 45 years at one company and now the balance of my working life, I decided to give to Jesus.  What halftime is to some, is different for others.  I had made thousands and thousands of decisions in my career, some more difficult and impactful than others.  But of all the decisions in my life, the one to join the Church as an employee, was my best and most meaningful.  Today, I am now the HR Manager at the parish as well as the church’s school.

Have I regretted my decision within the last 3 years?  There have been difficult times sorting through how to deal with people in the corporate world versus that of the Church world.  I have experienced losses which I should have known would happen, but neglected to believe would happen.  But because I am blessed, my friends and Jesus have helped me through these times of loss.  So, yes, there have been challenges, but I’ve never regretted my decision.

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for your divine guidance.

Thank you to the Church staff for your patience as I transitioned to a whole new world.

Thank you, Father Pat, my pastor then, and my friend now, since his reassignment to a new parish family.  I am closer to Jesus today than ever before in my life, and, without question, I owe it all to you.