Becoming Catholic, Again by Catherine Wiecher Brunell

Author:Catherine Wiecher Brunell [Brunell, Catherine Wiecher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL012030, REL010000, REL012040, RELIGION / Christian Life/Family, RELIGION / Christianity/Catholic, RELIGION / Christian Life/Inspirational
ISBN: 978-0-8294-3752-2
Publisher: Loyola Press
Published: 2012-10-01T00:00:00+00:00

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This stretch—like the two hands across the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel—happens in much smaller ways, too. I can recall another time when I was with my son in the middle of the night. He was eighteen months old and fighting another ear infection. He was taking the “pink stuff” and was delighted by the cherry Tylenol I gave him before bed, but he was still up in the middle of the night. He needed to be held. I sat in our living room, rocking him in a chair that Matt’s great-aunt gave us. It is not one of those comfy gliders from Babies R Us. This is a chair that has rocked many babies over the past century and shows it in the softness of its wooden edges and the barely audible creaks made by each rock. The streetlight was blazing directly outside our bay window, and the sound machine was still on in Turner’s room, adding a gentle purr to the atmosphere. Turner was rubbing the back of my neck with his chubby hand while I patted him on his back and sang whatever lullaby I could half remember. He fell asleep as I became wide-awake. I kept rocking, holding on to his powdery sweet smell as another sacred moment was ushered in with his baby incense.

Nothing else was required of me.

In a rare moment, I didn’t feel the need to do anything else. The moment was entirely enough, and I felt a rush of relief and clarity around our little huddle on the chair. At the time, I was really confused about my next best step in my vocational life, and very little seemed as clear as this action did that night.

I was working at Boston College in Campus Ministry and wondered if it was really what I was called to do. I was praying about it and seeing a spiritual director to think through what “being called to serve” meant now that I had a child. I was constantly wondering about what my purpose was and how I would fulfill it in the way my life was evolving. But not on this night. With Turner in my arms, a confidence about my purpose washed over me and was clearer than in any other deliberate attempt to unlock the answer. On that night, while I rocked him, I discovered an essential characteristic of how God calls me to live.

My discovery was simple: we are here to take care of one another. In the midst of simply doing what I had already agreed to do, I received an answer to the angst and prayers about what I thought I ought to be doing. I didn’t know yet what that meant in terms of my career. But peace washed over me, and I realized that I had much less to figure out than I had simply to live. I will go, Lord, if you lead me. This commitment felt doable again because I knew that God was actually leading me in the basics of my life.

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