For Such a Time as This

Welcome to Word for the Week, the series in which I:

share my experience of hearing God’s Word in Mass last weekend,
explore what I believe the Lord is calling me to do about that Word, and
ask how this Word might impact your life, as well.

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This Word for the Week article encompasses what was the final two weeks of the Easter Season! By sharing these personal reflections, I hope you’ll also be encouraged by God's word today.

On the Feast of the Ascension (two Sundays past), the word that stood out in Mass was, “Go.”

After the liturgy, we stood in the shade of the towering church building and introduced our out-of-town guests to our pastor, Fr. John. I also met a friend of a friend when we recognized each other from Instagram! Then, surprisingly, we saw Fr. Paul. We know him well from the neighboring parish (we tend to go to Mass between two parishes these days). But it’s unusual to see a pastor out and about at a parish otherr than his own on a Sunday.

Our kids were incredulous. “Fr. Paul!” In the same breath, they exclaimed, “What are you doing here at this church?” Fr. Paul smiled and shook his head. He was on a mission. He walked swiftly past us, into the church.

“He’s picking up some glasses, I think, that another priest left here,” clarified Fr. John.

After a few minutes, Fr. Paul re-emerged, glasses in hand.

“But how did you get here?!” The questions rang out again from our kids.

Fr. Paul stopped, smiled and laughed. “I have a car! I can go other places!” He punctuated each word as he shimmied his head and grinned. “And!” He added, with arms spread wide, “It’s all one church!”

Somehow this humorous exchange between my kids and Fr. Paul, mixed my two-letter Word for the Week, helped assuage some of my recent fears. Namely: that I can’t have both: close friends at home, plus ministry out in the world. “Maybe I can!” I started to think. Somehow, in that moment, I had extra peace. As Fr. Paul reminded us, it’s all one church.

Over the ensuing week, I felt prompted that it’s time to go forth in new ways!

I said yes to giving more podcast interviews. Yes to conversations with a major TV platform. Yes to speaking with: a literary agent, a new producer, an international-travel company. In the week between Ascension and Pentecost, new opportunities opened up that sound like a dream to me (like backpacking through the Grand Canyon or hiking in the footsteps of Francis of Assisi).

And then there was Pentecost.

The Sunday Mass felt almost normal. There was no social distancing. Seemingly less than half of the congregation wore face masks. On our way into church, we saw some friends. Because we arrived at the last minute, we quickly waved a hand in their direction as though to say, “Sending love!” on our way inside to take our seats. Not long ago, we would’ve been locked out of church in the same situation.

The word that stood out was, “sweet anointing from above.” It was a line from the opening hymn, "Come Holy Ghost." First, I thought of a meme on Instagram. It was an image of a fuzzy sheep against a gate, with oil poured over its head. When I searched the Internet for the image after Mass, I discovered an endearing article on farmandanimals.com.

According to the Farm & Animals website, shepherds put oil on sheep primarily for three reasons:

To keep rams from injuring each other in a fight. Their horns would be slippery from the oil, and the hope is that they will not get entangled with each other.

To keep flies from laying larvae in the sheep’s nose.

To mitigate contagious parasites passing between sheep.

I laughed as I calculated how this analogy could depict God’s grace. The anointing of the Spirit helps me not to get entangled in harmful arguments. It permits things that "bug" me from attaching themselves to my body and soul. (In other words, grace helps me not to hold on to the good and to release any evil.) And it keeps me safe from picking up life-draining tendencies or from passing them on to others. It seemed like a fitting metaphor of "sweet anointing from above."

But what to do about all of this? In prayer, it seemed very clear: the Lord has called me to “go,” and He has already anointed me with the grace I need to follow His call.

In closing, I’d like to reflect on the narrative of Queen Esther. One film that depicts the story is called, “One Night with the King.” My dear friend reminded me of the title the other day, so our eldest daughter (Chiara is 9 years old now!) and I watched it to close out the Easter Season.

At the onset of the story, Esther looks and acts like the pagans. She did what “everyone else was doing” in her social circle. In the midst of speaking, dressing, and eating in a way that blended in culturally, she was raised to a position of power and influence as Queen. Eventually, Esther’s moment of truth arises. It is the time to speak out on behalf of her people who are in danger.

Perhaps you’ve heard the beautiful words that called Esther to action. Her uncle Mordecai sends her a message to urge her to place her privildged role at the service of those who could not speak for themselves. “Who knows—perhaps it was for a time like this that you became queen?” He implores her. You can find out what happens next by reading the Book of Esther. (Or, you can watch One Night With the King on YouTube!)

What doors is God opening for you right now? Are there opportunities that are in front of you that seem different than you could’ve imagined? Are these new potentials bigger than you could’ve guessed? Or maybe they are more humble, more simple, but with a deeper impact? Maybe you’ll seem to simply blend in at first. What are you waiting for?

Perhaps, when we see the doors that God opens for us, we have already been given the grace that we need to enter them. And maybe it’s only once we walk through those doors of new opportunity that we’ll have our Esther moment. Then, together with our matriarch in the faith, we’ll see that we were called to a new place in life, “for such a time as this.”

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