Just Another Grace-filled Day at Work During Lent
Lent is filled with special graces - even during a busy work day. I don't pretend to fully understand grace, but I know it exists. And I know it's part of that "supernatural" world that surrounds us, that can seem so distant when we're absorbed in our work, but really isn't. I know this because I had a grace-filled day recently.
Last week, during a business lunch, I told the person who way buying, "No thanks, it's Lent," when it came time for dessert. He wasn't Catholic, so he just sort of smiled. We didn't say anything else about my faith, about Lent, or why I skipped dessert. It wasn't really a big deal. But when I though about it later, I realized I had publicly professed my faith in Jesus Christ - sort of.
For me, one who doesn't run around evangelizing, especially at work, and who can't ever figure out how to live up to the idea of spreading the Good News, the reality of that simple comment sunk in.
The rest of the day passed without anything else "Catholic" about it. Well, I did get to Mass right before the lunch meeting, and confession too. Hmm, that's right, I did get to confession. I hadn't planned on that. It's just that there was only one person on the confession line when I got to church for Mass - an odd occurrence during Lent, when the line is usually long. So I just jumped on line and did an examination of conscience (maybe not my best, since there was only one person ahead of me). And after my confession, the line was long again.
So when I got to the lunch, I was all confessed and, well,full of grace from the sacrament.
Hey, maybe that's why I said what I said, without any self-consciousness. It just sort of came out: "No thanks, it's Lent."
Later, when I examined my conscience before drifting off to sleep (a rather light, quick examination, since I was all confessed and still - I think - full of grace), just for a moment I had this "supernatural" sense. The sacrament of confession - like all sacraments - imparts special graces. That's why we can go to confession often, even if we don't have a lot to confess (never a problem for me!). The priest, in forgiving our sins, acts as a kind of instrument that delivers that shot of special grace. Maybe it was that extra shot of grace that allowed me to respond so simply and naturally, with being self-conscious, during that business lunch.
And it then occurred to me that "being Catholic" during work, even witnessing to Christ, isn't something I need to think about or plan for. Doing my best work and providing a good personal example to others both in the quality of my work and in how I behave while I'm working is a kind of witness. And if an occasional opportunity pops up to do or say anything more explicitly Catholic, well, I can just leave that up to Jesus to guide me, to tell me what to say or do. And the best way to leave it up to Jesus is to put myself in grace's way by getting to Mass, regularly confessing my sins, and faithfully following my spiritual discipline, all of which is doable even on the busiest days if I...well, if I just leave it up to Jesus: "Jesus, help me to get to Mass today...Jesus help me to make time for prayer and meditation in spite of my busy work schedule...Jesus, help me to get to confession...Jesus help me..."
You know what? You know that short line at the confessional? That was Jesus helping me get to confession so I could get some grace. It had been a little longer than usual between confession, and I had just thought that about that, but really didn't have time to get to confession then, because I had that lunch meeting after Mass, and the line for confession at Lent is usually so long...except that it wasn't this time. Thanks Jesus!
So Jesus got me to confession and He gave me the chance to not only confess my sins and be forgiven, but He gave me the chance to profess my faith to this fellow at lunch - all in the course of a busy, hectic work day, basically without my having to think much about any of this. It all happened because He gave me the chance to get to confession and get the grace I needed to say what I said.
Is that what Lent being filled a time of special graces means?
Last week, during a business lunch, I told the person who way buying, "No thanks, it's Lent," when it came time for dessert. He wasn't Catholic, so he just sort of smiled. We didn't say anything else about my faith, about Lent, or why I skipped dessert. It wasn't really a big deal. But when I though about it later, I realized I had publicly professed my faith in Jesus Christ - sort of.
For me, one who doesn't run around evangelizing, especially at work, and who can't ever figure out how to live up to the idea of spreading the Good News, the reality of that simple comment sunk in.
The rest of the day passed without anything else "Catholic" about it. Well, I did get to Mass right before the lunch meeting, and confession too. Hmm, that's right, I did get to confession. I hadn't planned on that. It's just that there was only one person on the confession line when I got to church for Mass - an odd occurrence during Lent, when the line is usually long. So I just jumped on line and did an examination of conscience (maybe not my best, since there was only one person ahead of me). And after my confession, the line was long again.
So when I got to the lunch, I was all confessed and, well,full of grace from the sacrament.
Hey, maybe that's why I said what I said, without any self-consciousness. It just sort of came out: "No thanks, it's Lent."
Later, when I examined my conscience before drifting off to sleep (a rather light, quick examination, since I was all confessed and still - I think - full of grace), just for a moment I had this "supernatural" sense. The sacrament of confession - like all sacraments - imparts special graces. That's why we can go to confession often, even if we don't have a lot to confess (never a problem for me!). The priest, in forgiving our sins, acts as a kind of instrument that delivers that shot of special grace. Maybe it was that extra shot of grace that allowed me to respond so simply and naturally, with being self-conscious, during that business lunch.
And it then occurred to me that "being Catholic" during work, even witnessing to Christ, isn't something I need to think about or plan for. Doing my best work and providing a good personal example to others both in the quality of my work and in how I behave while I'm working is a kind of witness. And if an occasional opportunity pops up to do or say anything more explicitly Catholic, well, I can just leave that up to Jesus to guide me, to tell me what to say or do. And the best way to leave it up to Jesus is to put myself in grace's way by getting to Mass, regularly confessing my sins, and faithfully following my spiritual discipline, all of which is doable even on the busiest days if I...well, if I just leave it up to Jesus: "Jesus, help me to get to Mass today...Jesus help me to make time for prayer and meditation in spite of my busy work schedule...Jesus, help me to get to confession...Jesus help me..."
You know what? You know that short line at the confessional? That was Jesus helping me get to confession so I could get some grace. It had been a little longer than usual between confession, and I had just thought that about that, but really didn't have time to get to confession then, because I had that lunch meeting after Mass, and the line for confession at Lent is usually so long...except that it wasn't this time. Thanks Jesus!
So Jesus got me to confession and He gave me the chance to not only confess my sins and be forgiven, but He gave me the chance to profess my faith to this fellow at lunch - all in the course of a busy, hectic work day, basically without my having to think much about any of this. It all happened because He gave me the chance to get to confession and get the grace I needed to say what I said.
Is that what Lent being filled a time of special graces means?
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