Its funny. The last time I was hired by Fr. Michael at St. Jude he himself left after one year of my being employed there. Now, another priest is leaving when I have just arrived at Notre Dame. Kind of disheartening to think that "I am chasing priests away"... if I didn't believe that Jesus holds the key to the meaning of all this.
Fr. Hellstrom himself noted that the Lord Jesus had surprised him with this move from Notre Dame, but that it was because he trusted in God that he knew there was a purpose. One never knows how one's life will turn when one least expects it. After my former position at St. Jude, I was blessed to have the opportunity to move to Virginia to work for Christendom College, directing their Study Abroad program with my wife. This entailed us traveling to Rome with our, then, two children. But, the Lord had a lil different plan. We found out, just after accepting the job, that we were to have our third child. This meant that sometime between flying back and forth to Italy and running a program while we were there, my wife was going to have a baby. In His Providence, it turned out that our third child was born in Virginia at the end of Decemeber - in between semesters. It was truly perfect timing! (well, sort of...) We had only 4 weeks before we returned to Rome for the Spring Semester... with three kids. While we lived in a one bedroom apartment in Rome, with 4 bunkbeds. I won't bore you with the details of all this, but suffice it to say it was a "challenge." In the end, in spite of the economy beginning to tank, we decided it was a better decision to move back to Denver and live with my parents than to stay in the position. In all honesty, I had no idea if I would find a job back in Denver... turns out I did. Nevertheless, it took a full 13 months to find this new position.
Thankfully, we had a substantial tax return because of our 3rd child and so we were able to survive alright until this job came along. In the midst of all of it, I kept wondering what God's plan was. I think I may have found quite a bit of fruit from that time of unemployment, and now continue to grow closer to my wife, in particular, because of it.
In the end, it was clear that Jesus had a plan, and in spite of my complaining, He knew and knows what is best for us. If you happened to have been at Fr. Hellstrom's final mass at Notre Dame he made the point of demonstrating the difference between "complaining" to God and "crying out to the Lord." I have to say, perhaps I need more work on that one. Nevertheless, as the Psalmist wrote, "the Lord hears the cry of the poor." May we turn our hearts to Him and cry out for our needs.
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