“๐ผ๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐จ ๐๐ช๐ข๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ ๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ค๐ฎ, ๐ค๐ง ๐๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐จ ๐ข๐๐ฃ ๐ค๐ ๐ค๐ก๐. ๐๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ฉ? ๐๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ฉ? ๐ฟ๐ค ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐ค๐ค๐ข? ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐จ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ง๐๐จ, “๐ฟ๐ค ๐๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ค๐ค๐ข”?
A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend an enlightening retreat at the Loyola Jesuit Center in Morristown, NJ where I serve on the Board of Trustees. The theme for our day of prayer was “Why Wait: Fully Engaging the Season of Advent” and led by one of my favorite Jesuit priests Fr. Joe Constantino SJ, who currently serves as the Superior for the Jesuit community at St. Peter’s University in Jersey City, NJ.
Fr. Joe has a magical way of helping you stretch your imagination and understanding that span of time that exists between the “already” — i.e., those things that have already happened and the “not yet” — i.e., those things that are in the process of being born, of taking shape, and just need additional time and prayer to discern more fully where God might be calling us. Advent is a period of spiritual preparation for Christ’s birth and even though we only celebrate Christmas once a year on December 25th, as individuals each of us is always in this perpetual cycle of waiting (“the already”) and giving birth (“the not yet”) to something new.
Towards the end of the retreat, Fr. Joe shared this beautiful song that was written by Shawna Belt Edwards entitled “Do You Have Room”? On a spiritual level, the song asks us whether we make enough room for Christ in our daily lives but as the song played on, I became increasingly emotional and had to leave the room as I realized there were other important questions that I needed to ask myself like do I have room for the people that are the most important in my life like my spouse, children, grandchildren, and siblings? Do I allow enough room for colleagues at work and in ministry? Am I making enough room for my friends? Do I have room to tap into my emotions to see how I really feel? Do I leave enough room for an examination of conscience in how I make decisions and for my own self-care?
As I prepare for 2023, the Loyola Jesuit Center retreat was a powerful reminder for me to say YES in making sure that I leave enough room for Christ every day, for all the people that are most important in my life, and to my self-care and mental health. To simply breathe and honor that sacred space that exists between the “already” and “not yet”, forever mindful of those timeless words of that great Jesuit priest, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ to “above all, trust in the slow work of God”. #executivecoaching #careercoaching #christmas2022 #loyola
