In 2003 I was generally content, happily tending corporate nets for a global consumer products company. After an out-of-the-blue invitation, some discernment and much encouragement, I left the corporate world behind and moved to Chicago to share management and product development skills with Charis Ministries, a Jesuit retreat ministry for those in their 20s and 30s. I helped weave many new nets during the next five years and, as I came to know Jesus more personally through my colleagues and those who participated in our programs, I found great joy and a deep trust in Jesus’ faithful friendship.
Mid-January returns us to ordinary numbering of days filled with work and school, family and friends, weathering winter challenges, praying for the world, for people celebrating good times, and for those making their way through difficult ones. Once more caught up pursuing our lives and livelihood, asking and thanking God each day for our daily bread, can we move into 2015 with a renewed sense of delight and wonder at being invited by Jesus to help make his Kingdom a reality in our time?
—Jenéne Francis, is Provincial Assistant for Pastoral Ministries, Chicago-Detroit Province and Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus