Peace

I heard a phrase last year that has recently emerged once again in my mind: You can’t pray unless your basic needs are met. So, in other words, it makes it hard to focus on prayer or reflection if your stomach is continually growling, the sweat is pouring down burning your eyes, or silence is impossible to find amidst the sounds of thirty adolescences around you. But there are those times when the stars seem to align and conditions are perfect for prayer.

Luckily, this is exactly what happened this past weekend during the priestly ordination I was blessed to attend. Two young deacons, Johnny-Clement and Terence, have now become the two newest priests in the country of Liberia. I had the pleasure of meeting Johnny-Clement earlier in the summer, and he made a point to get my phone number to make sure I know when the ordination took place so I could attend.

And on top of the ordination itself, it was the first ordination celebrated by the new Bishop that I saw ordained the very first weekend I arrived. He gave a beautiful homily extolling the virtues that are gifted by the Holy Spirit and necessary for carrying out the ministry of the priesthood. All the while, Archbishop Zeigler sat humbly off to the side, speaking only words of gratitude at the conclusion of the Mass.

I find it divine timing that the ten week period I find myself in Africa I was able to witness the ordination of two priests and a bishop. And for myself it has been a powerful experience, but not as apparent as I may have hoped for. I prayed before the ordination this past weekend that the Lord move in my heart if He wished, again finding myself praying for clarity. Only afterwards I realized and thanked God for the consolation I felt, not from any explicit feelings of confirmation or clarity, but in the grace I received from putting trust in the Lord by faith alone.

I call consolation…filling [the soul] with peace and quiet in its Creator and Lord.
-St. Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises


-Dan
written 08/02/11