“𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙥𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙙 𝙗𝙤𝙮, 𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙡𝙙. 𝙒𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩? 𝙒𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩? 𝘿𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙧𝙤𝙤𝙢? 𝙇𝙮𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙮 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙬𝙣𝙖 𝙀𝙙𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨, “𝘿𝙤 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙃𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙍𝙤𝙤𝙢”?
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
