Ready to Move Forward

“Act is if everything depended on you and trust as if everything depended on God. St Ignatius of Loyola

Recently, I was on a flight. The turbulence was awful – no beverage service and everyone strapped in for the duration. I fly a lot, but I do not enjoy it all the time. I kept my eyes fixed on the flight attendant, since she knew more than me if we were in any danger. It did not help much. The person beside me was trying to be comforting and the flight attendant made her way to my seat to see if I was okay. It was good to land safely. We are at the end of the course for the RCIA candidates. We had a small dinner for them, and they are on their way to enter the Church very soon. Being a cradle Catholic, it seems strange to me for someone not to be in the Church, but it is great to see the trust in these people. They are ready.

“It is by resistance to temptations that we give God proofs of our love.” St. Jean Vianney

One saint, quite obscure, was St. Charles of Sezze. Born into a poor family in Italy, he was a pious child and took a vow of chastity at a young age. He wanted to be lay brother and the Franciscans accepted him. He worked at menial jobs – porter, sacristan and beggar. But he could read souls and wrote many motivational letters. His devotion to the Eucharist was great and he experienced a phenomenon called transverberation. A brilliant light pierced Charles’ side. St. Teresa of Avia also experienced the same wound. It brings pain but there is great spiritual joy in it. Upon his death, a scar was found on his body and in his heart. Recently, it was the feast of St. Joseph. The homily was quite interesting since it focused on the absence of words recorded in scripture from St. Joseph. We know the story of St. Joseph and his dream to not break off his betrothment to Mary. He took care of Mary. He took the family to Egypt to protect our Lord, and he did what he was asked. This is trust. We could try to match this.

“Unfurl the sails and let God steer us where he will.” St. Bede the Venerable

How often do we not trust. We expect so much from others, from ourselves and from life and yet we are disappointed. Maybe we could reverse this thinking and ask our Lord what he wants from us. This might be a beginning. I do not fly well because I am not in control. I would like to control a lot of things, but it is not possible. It might help if we start with prayer. Lent is coming to an end. Have we made it a good one? Does it really end at Easter, and we go back to where we began on Ash Wednesday? Maybe we could continue this journey every day in every circumstance.

“Even today, there are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent. Settings where other securities are preferred, like technology, money, success, power or pleasure.” — Pope Leo XIV Homily for the Mass Pro Ecclesia, 9 May 2025