The first ministry I was assigned to as a Jesuit novice was hospital chaplaincy. I had anxiety going into the experience. Eventually, I had an experience of hearing today’s Gospel: “you are anxious and worried about many things.” The focus had become about myself, rather than the person and Jesus already working in their lives.
One of the prayer cards we could give to patients included St. Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of the Sun.” At the end, God is praised through “sister Death” as familiar to us as “brother Sun,” and “sister Moon.” We all experience some form of death, transitions, heavy workloads, the illness or passing of a loved one. God is working all around us, moving us to Him, even in dying. While not easy, stillness helps us notice.
In prayer, imagine sitting at Jesus’ feet, asking him how his love has been active in your life.
—Michael Tedone, S.J., a Jesuit of the California Province, is studying philosophy at Loyola University Chicago.