I've tried keeping office plants. Twice, actually. But both sadly shared the same fate - a slow death.

I haven't tried to keep even a small garden on my third-floor balcony because I know that those plants would most likely follow the path of their office friends. I hate to even think of the idea.

That being said though, I love statues of Frank.
Francis of Assisi, that is.

I love to see him in gardens of Catholic and non-Catholics alike, giving water to the birds or just staring into the great abyss.

I love it because, when I see him, I think of Francis' story. And I think of a great lesson that I was reminded of today: God is a disrupter. And that's okay. And everything's going to be okay.

Feeling secure and safe is one of my biggest needs in life. It's just a personality hazard. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why the decision over leaving the Sisters was so agonizing. Even though more and more I felt God was calling me to leave, it meant leaving a planned future, stable relationships, steady schedules, etc. I really wrestled with that. But ultimately, I took the knife, cut down the safety net I was sitting in, and jumped into the great unknown.

Frank understood that. He had his own safety net, his plush life as the son of a rich silk merchant. Surely, his future was planned out; he had friends just like him; he enjoyed the care-free life. But slowly, things changed. He had a conversion experience in which he felt God calling him to rebuild the church. Did he agonize like I did? I don't know. But ultimately, like me, he took the knife, cut down his safety net, and jumped.

Francis' life changed drastically, as we all know. He grew very religious, re-built churches with his bare hands, started living a life of poverty, and founded the Franciscans and Poor Clares.

God disrupts. And that's okay.
Our lives change for the better when He does.
Sometimes that disruption doesn't come in the form of a religious conversion like Francis' - maybe it's in the form of leaving an unhealthy relationship, an unhappy job situation, finally confronting someone about an uncomfortable but important subject.
It's been almost a year since I left the Sisters. And I can say that I'm happier today than I was a year ago, even two years ago. I do miss my safety net sometimes, especially when, in instability, I'm looking for security. But I don't regret letting it fall.

That being said, it's easier said than done...most especially when the cutting of our safety net is beyond our control. Some people I know were told to leave their religious communities. There is no discernment, no personal agony. the safety net just falls out from underneath you. And you hit the ground with a BANG.

Francis knew that too. His father never spoke to him again after his religious conversion, people thought he was mentally ill, and there was division in his own Franciscan community. Not anything he would have wanted or probably expected.

But he would easily tell you it was all worth it. God disrupts. Then, it's up to us to work with the disruption. Mourning that cut safety net is okay for awhile but what are the next steps? Perhaps that's why Francis (maybe??) said "Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible."

So, those statues of Frank in gardens don't remind me of Brother Sun, Sister Bird or that I need to water my plants.
They remind me of God the Disrupter, God the Plan-Changer, and that I need to trust and work with those disruptions.
And, although it may not always seem like it, everything's going to be okay.

I Can't. You Must. I'm Yours.

To me, the most powerful scene in "Romero" is not his martyrdom. It's not the assassination of his friend, Fr. Rutilio Grande. It's not even when Romero travels through the slums, those families living in the trash heaps or when he's in jail.

It's long after Fr. Rutilio Grande's death. It's when Romero feels abandoned by those who had previously supported him. It's at the height of Romero's personal change, but also the height of his fear and confusion.

Romero goes to visit the graves of Fr. Grande and the two others murdered with him. After walking away from the graves, he falls to the ground, kneeling and says:
"I can't...You Must...I'm Yours...Show Me the Way."

I've prayed this a few times in my life and most notably and recently, the day I waited for news of my sending on mission from the Seminary to San Antonio.

I thought about it again today as I listened to a group sing "Oceans" and "Holy Spirit" and tears filled my eyes.

Now that I've been a lay woman for five months (wow), there are a few things that are hitting me.

I've noticed that my support system has shrunk exponentially. While I do understand that to a point because I've left the family (so to speak), it is still painful.
I feel stuck in the present, living one day at a time. I used to know what my future held, always wearing the Vincentian cross, always surrounded by the same women, praying the same prayers and following the same traditions. Now, the future is a question mark, a scary question mark.
I know that I have to discover who I really am because my identity is no longer determined by my outfit, by the living of the vows, and by the initials after my name.

The truth is this prayer of Romero's is for me right now. This short, profound prayer.

Because I can't. I can't do this by myself. My life is not up to me anyway.

Because, You, God, must. No one else. Not only are You all-powerful and all-knowing but You love me more than I could ever imagine. (You know, considering Romero's mission and ultimate death, I used to think the "You Must" was God speaking back - "no, Romero, you HAVE to do this. You CAN do this." but, as the years past and experiences shaped me, I saw it differently. It's Romero telling God: "You, God, must. It must be You leading, not myself. It must be You I rely on.")

Because I'm Yours. I'm still Yours. I didn't abandon You when I took off the habit. I didn't abandon You when I took off that beautiful cross. I still choose to follow You wherever You lead me.

Please show me the way. I trust in You.


(As a short sidenote, I can thank my friend Nicole - who is one of the writers of Messy Jesus Business - for first introducing me to the depth of this scene. She spoke about it at our VIDES orientation ten years ago and it never left me!)

Happy All Saints' Day

Both Saint Vincent de Paul and St Louise de Marillac died 352 years ago. St Elizabeth Ann Seton, 191 years ago. St Therese, 115 years ago.

Yet not all of them died so long ago. Saint Katharine Drexel died 57 years ago. Thomas Merton, 44 years ago. Dorothy Day, Ita Ford and Oscar Romero, 32 years ago. And even more recently, even in my own memory, Bl Mother Teresa died 15 years ago and Bl Pope John Paul II 7 years ago.

There's so many from so many different eras - some whose bones are all we have, others so long ago that their only physical legacy is their legend, and still others who we ourselves can remember dying.

Yet somehow, they're all still alive.

In my life, God has used the saints to help me feel that I'm not alone, to tug my heart in a different direction, to develop my spirituality, even to turn my world upside down. Their lives, their faithfulness, their love, and their wisdom touch me in accordance to God's purpose.

Sometimes I meet the saints in books - a dusty biography on a library shelf, a recommended spiritual one, or one that "just looked interesting". Sometimes I meet them through other people, like how I met Padre Pio though a close friend with a special devotion. Sometimes I meet them "by accident" - through things that can only be labeled as Divine Providence. I met St Elizabeth Ann Seton when I went to college in Emmitsburg, Maryland, where she founded the Sisters of Charity and later died. I met St Katharine Drexel during my prepostulancy/postulancy in Macon, Georgia, where I worked in a church and school founded by her.

The saints have become friends on the journey, a comfort during the hard times and a welcome presence during the joyful times. Outside of Catholic circles, it's commonly misunderstood our devotion to the saints. To me, they're friends. Not God, not Jesus...but rather, the saint is my imperfect friend there to teach me something (even if from their own mistakes) and there to embrace me and say "I'm praying for you". And, as trite as it might sound, there's nothing quite like someone saying a heartfelt loving prayer for you. And the saints do just that.

Each saint I've encountered, canonized or not, has taught me something. They taught me about the Good News of love, about service in the name of Jesus, about contemplation, about peace, about suffering and about resurrection. But perhaps the biggest lesson of all, or rather the summary of it all, is "keep on journeying, Amanda....there's lots to learn and lots to do but it's worth it, believe me."