Just Say Yes

Just Say Yes

 

I love Advent.  While it’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle, we take quiet moments to reflect on what we are preparing for by lighting our Advent wreath, pondering the daily readings or finding a moment of quiet time to listen to God. It is the time of year that brings us to ponder what the Blessed Mother did for us just by saying ‘yes’.

 

She listened, she pondered and she did the Will of God. Mary’s Fiat.  One woman’s ‘yes’ changed the course of humanity.  In our imitation of Mary, our ‘yes’ can also impact humanity. 

 

On March 15, 1995, I met Pope John Paul II on a pilgrimage to Rome.  This lifechanging event set me on a path of searching for answers to questions about my Catholic Faith.  As I became more involved in different ministries within the Church, one of my youth ministry friends invited me to consider applying to the Master of Arts in Ministry Program at Saint John Seminary.  

 

In the first year of Apostolic Formation, my advisor invited me to consider prison ministry as a ministry which would provide a good experience.  At first, I rather emphatically declined the invitation.  

 

After 15 years I still volunteer in the Catholic Chaplaincy Program at a local women’s prison.  I consider the prison ministry one of the great graces in my life. 

 

In my second year of Apostolic Formation, I received an invitation to be part of Project Rachel.  Named for the Old Testament figure Rachel, who wept inconsolably for her children until God came to her, offering hope for her future (Jeremiah 31:15-17), Project Rachel is a confidential Catholic outreach ministry offering hope and healing to women and men hurting from past abortions.  Participation in this ministry offered me a glimpse of the pain and suffering people go through in the aftermath of abortion.  It also showed me how, through the sacraments of Confession and Eucharist, a resurrection in their lives can come about.

 

In June 2017 I was invited to work as a nurse at Pregnancy Help.  Pregnancy Help is a resource center where all services are free and confidential and are available to anyone experiencing an unexpected pregnancy.  

 

It is a great gift to work with the people whom God has placed in my care at Pregnancy Help.   They often come through the door alone, overwhelmed, hopeless, and pressured to make decisions they know are not the best for them.

 

In August 2017 I was invited to St. Joseph the Good Provider Parish in Berlin to run the Religious Education Program.  I had told God a few days before that I would never work in a parish again.  The old saying goes.  “You plan, God laughs.” 

 

In every encounter I learn more and more how to love, listen and walk with those placed in my care.  God is always preparing us for what’s coming even if we don’t know what that might be.  With every invitation, my first internal response was ‘no’.  In every instance, I found grace when I said “yes”.

 

God has a plan for every one of us. Pope Saint John Paul II writes: “The human being is single, unique, and unrepeatable, someone thought of and chosen from eternity, someone called and identified by name”.  During this time of crisis there are many invitations to help our brothers and sisters in need. 

 

As we enter the Fourth Week of Advent be aware of where God might be calling you to help.  Where, like Mary, God is inviting you to say ‘yes’.