Near the end of January, just after attending the Mass of the Baptism of our Lord I heard myself telling our Pastor,  “I am not ready to go into Ordinary Time, because that means the season of Lent is right around the corner and I am not ready for Jesus to die. Really, I still have my baby Jesus collection up.” Father’s rolling eyes told me his thoughts!

I enjoy Ordinary Time. We heard readings not heard other times of the year, there are several feast days like, Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Blasé and the Chair of St. Peter, we’re allowed to catch our breath from the fasting and celebrating of the Church calendar.

Ordinary Time on the Church Calendar reminds me of a story recounted by,

Rev. Jeffrey Symynkywicz, a pastor in Massachusetts. “There was once a group of tourists on safari in Africa, who hired a group of native porters to carry their baggage as they trekked. After three days, the porters told them that they would have to stop for a day and rest. They were not tired, they explained, but “we have walked too far too fast and now we must wait for our souls to catch up with us.” I need to wait a moment to let my soul catch up with me.

During this Lenten Season, I plan to use my blog as a place to reflect on how we have saints walking among us right in our mists. I believe, we live a time and place where we are so busy, working, playing, worrying, and just living that we run the risk of missing out on the simple joys of life that could encourage us to see God’s plan for us.

If we slow down; take notice, we may begin to see God’s got this.

God has our back.

God’s loves each of us.

Servant of God Luis Maria Martinez says it like this, “If nothing else existed in the world except for God and you, O soul who reads these lines, God would not love you more than he does right now. If you were the only object of her love, God would love you just as much as he loves you now.”

I don’t know about you but I take and run with that. Even when I can’t love like God, it is reassuring to me God loves me like that, Infinitely, with God’s own heart, even when I screw up. Wow, that’s a God I need to grow closer to and get to know better.