Pause for Prayer: FRIDAY 5/19

As always, I wrote today's Pause for Prayer on the night before,
posting it in time for you to read it this morning:
today's prayer includes both those moments...

Forty-four years ago tonight, Lord,
I thought I'd never fall asleep:
I was so excited about the next day,
my ordination day,
and the excitement was mixed
with fear, joy, caution, nervousness
and trust and hope that it was indeed you, Lord,
who began all this within me
and that you'd bring it fulfillment
through the power of your Spirit...

Forty-four years ago this morning I woke up early
(so yes, I must have finally fallen asleep)
and I was out of bed quicker than ever before!
I remember driving from Brighton
to the cathedral in Boston
and thinking and praying
that my life would never be the same
after this day...

And I was excited
and the excitement was mixed
with fear, joy, caution, nervousness
and trust and hope that it would indeed be you, Lord,
who would bring all this in me to fulfillment
through the power of your Spirit...

Now, forty-four years later it's hard to believe
that more than four decades have  passed,
more than half my age,
in the life that began for me that morning
in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross...

It's exciting to consider all that's happened
in my life as a priest, Lord,
and because I have responded to your call
with uneven amounts of fidelity and devotion,
my excitement is mixed with contrition and caution,
with nervous joy and with trust and hope
that where I have failed
you, Lord, have picked up my slack
lest anyone I've been sent to serve go without
on account of my weakness, my faults, my failings...

Forty-four years later, Lord,
I''m still trusting that it was indeed you
who began this work within me
and that it is indeed you
who seek to bring it to completion,
to fruitfulness, to harvest
through the power of your Spirit...

For all you've given me, Lord
and that's more than I can weigh, count or imagine,
for all you've given me I am indeed truly grateful
and I pray, I hope and I trust
that you will bring to fulfillment
the work you began in me
forty-four years ago today...

Amen.



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