Looking back on this first of hopefully many years of priesthood, I have to say it’s been the best year of my life. That’s not because it’s been the most fun and exciting, the most carefree and relaxing, or because I’ve made a million new friends, or done a million things I’ve never done before.
I have had fun, time to relax and just be, and I have done new, exciting things, and met wonderful new people. But what makes this the best year of my life is the deep joy and peace I have in my heart and soul … that comes from knowing I am doing exactly what God wants me to do and created me for.
And that sense of joy and peace persists through the challenging moments I experience in the continuing transition from seminary to real life priesthood. I’ve been well prepared for ministry, but the people of God never fail to surprise. There is hard work, sacrifice, being misunderstood, feeling under appreciated, making and learning from mistakes, and asking for forgiveness.
More often, however, there is the wonderfully affirming love of people whose faith matters to them, and who are so very grateful God has put me in their lives to help them on their way to heaven. There is also the wonderfully affirming grace of God who gives me just what I need when I don’t think I have it … a powerful reminder that yes, he did indeed call me to this, and he’s happy I said, “Yes.”
