Knowing You Are Where You Are Supposed To Be

The last couple of days have been busy days for me; nothing unusual there.  In these busy times I have been blessed with some moments of knowing that I was where I was supposed to be.

Yesterday, I said Mass at the Homestead Nursing facility for 18 or 20 residents, a couple of staff, and a couple of parishioners.  Now, it is not unusual to see fewer people at daily Mass in the parish.  But in the nursing home, sometimes you can wonder if it is worth it.  You don’t know if the people can hear you or know what is going on.  This time, both before and after Mass, I had several of the residents thank me for coming to say Mass.  Of course, they can’t get to church themselves but to have several of them genuinely say thank you tells me that was where God wanted me to be.

This morning I “found the time” to go see a person who has just gone into hospice care.  I had a message that she would like to receive the Anointing of the Sick but anytime in the next couple of days would be fine.  Today was very busy, but tomorrow is going to be busy too so I found the time to go see her.  She was very appreciative that I came and we had a heartfelt conversation.  There conversation showed me I was where I was supposed to be.

This afternoon, I went to our parish school to talk with the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders about priests, deacons, and religious.  I was given forty or forty-five minutes.  I wasn’t sure it wouldn’t take any more than 20-30 minutes.  It lasted an hour because they were very interested and asked good questions.  That helped me “get into it.”  Again, I was where I was supposed to be.

How do you know when you are where you are supposed to be, especially when it wasn’t where you planned on being?

Peace,

Fr. Jeff