Spring Break and memories of school

At the end of this week the children hear one of the favorite phrases “It is spring break!” As a child, I remember looking forward to the breaks and holiday seasons, to the time off, as an adult, I miss those days. I was a typical child and for the most part, did not like going to school, except for the time that I got to spend with my friends. There are many times in which I wish that I could go back to that time, where I did not have to deal with the responsibilities as an adult. While when you are young, you don’t realize how good it was to not to have to worry about some of the things we do as adults, but in these days, children are dealing with more adult issues at a younger age.

Being someone who was a “delayed vocation” to the priesthood, I had the opportunity to go back to full time school as a more experienced an adult. I entered the seminary process at 32, and had worked in the IT industry for 12 years before having the call to priesthood come back to me. I also had delt with the experiences and responsibilities of home ownership, it is something that those who went to seminary straight out of high school did not have, but each of us has our own path and if it is where God wants us to be, we should follow it. In seminary I heard the phrases “I can’t wait to get out of school and to work” or “I can’t wait to be a pastor.” Yes, the whole point of going to seminary or any other school is to be prepared for life and what is going to happen. Yes, it is also good to plan for the future, and yes, it is good to be reminded of the memories we have from the past, but nothing we can do can change what happened in the past nor can we go back to it. We can only use those experiences to help us plan for the future, for where God is calling us to be. When we only concentrate on the past and the future, we miss out on what is going on right now, those events that are right in front of us. Jesus, so many times, was just present to the people around him. He allowed himself to be touched in order to heal others, he sat down and had meals with people, even with people who hated him and wanted to have him killed. He sat with the sick, and those who were outcasts, in so many ways, he was present with them, while also preparing his Apostles and disciples for what was coming. While we do need to prepare for the things that realistically may happen, we also need to remember to be in the here and now so that we do not miss the blessings that are going on around us today.

God bless,
Fr. Ken