“You are anxious and worried about many things.” Well, Jesus, in fact, I am and I am sure Martha was too. The to-do list was long: packing for a family of five for a week visiting family, then a week of camping, followed by a conference for me and camp for the kids. “To give and not to count the cost…To labor and not to seek reward,” Ignatius helps me pray. Jesus says, “There is need of only one thing.” Ignatius answers, “Except that of knowing that I do your will.” I used to expect that the peace and consolation from succeeding in this would be pervasive. Twenty years of marriage and three children have taught me that the prayer must be a mantra in the midst of the chaos, and the answer is always a surprise and usually fleeting, like a cool breeze on a hot, humid summer day.
—Jackie Beale-DelVecchio is a middle school religion teacher at the Sacred Heart Schools, Chicago, IL.