Readying Ourselves for the Master's Return

 “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks." Lk 12 35-36

Getting ready for a lifestyle change can be both unnerving and exciting. Seventeen young men recently entered the Capuchin novitiate in California. Reading their names, I immediately started praying for them. While I am sure they are excited, I also know they will have some butterflies, especially if they have never lived in the mountains or the desert.

Praying helped me remember that whenever I have the privilege of helping someone ready themselves for marriage, many of the same concerns emerge. Has the couple spent enough time learning about one another? Do they have good communication skills? And most important for believers, are the thinking of marriage as a faith commitment, an opportunity to grow in the love of God through marriage?

These questions, and the answers they imply, when altered slightly are good ones for the candidates to our Order. Life doesn't happen in a day, but unfolds a day at a time. Taking enough time to focus of goals rather than accomplishments makes it possible for religious life and marriage to be a wonderful time of transformation and hope.

Today, thank God for those who helped you make difficult transitions in your life.

What most helps you make transitions in your faith life?