MY DIZZYING SWIRL

I could easily fill a couple of pages listing the changes going on in the monastery and school. Let me mention a few, in deliberately jumbled fashion.

We elected a new abbot a week of so ago ... two graduations this weekend (Saturday for the Girls' Prep Division, Sunday for the Boys') ... New arrangement of seating ion the monastic choir in church to accommodate the new Abbot and the new Prior (me) ... our Elementary Division will be moving into new quarters less than a mile from here, the former St. Stanislas school building, entailing all sorts of packing up and rearranging ... the other day I got word that a sixty-three year-old cousin died suddenly ... lots of final hugs at various awards celebrations ... my getting used to my new duties as Prior ... 

Really, this just a sample of the ingredients that make up the "swirl" that is my life at the moment.

As I was reflecting on the swirl during Morning Prayer this morning I heard one of my brothers read the words from the Book of Revelation: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end." This seemed a perfect text for the moment: The Universal Christ is present in the old (the alpha) and the new (the omega), so that no matter how busy or confusing things get, the Christ is present in the midst of everything and is ultimately in charge, holding everything in his loving hands.  

This was a comforting thought that has stayed with me. I'm not in charge of the swirl, nor do I need to be. I can relax in the confident assurance that our Brother, our Lord Jesus Christ, is guiding me and all of us through whatever confusing, busy or difficult times we may be experiencing.   

This post is shorter than I'd like, but part of my swirl is that I've been asked to help this morning in our Pierre Toussaint food pantry. We're expecting a couple of hundred families, especially since the pantry was closed last weekend. I'm going to help with signing people in, particularly those who speak Spanish or French. Like so many other parts of my swirl, this will be a gift and an honor - not to mention a pleasure.

On this feast of Pentecost, may the Holy Spirit bless each of us with the special gifts we need to find Christ present with us in our swirl!