God Doesn't Make Us Settle for Less

I had been offered an opportunity to go back to the Philippines where I studied spiritual direction under Fr. Thomas Green at San Jose Seminary inside the Ateneo de Manila Campus. But I knew I couldn't. Bishop Welsh wouldn't let me do retreat work even in our own diocese, all the more he wouldn't free me to go to the Philippines.

But after my heart bypass, Bishop Welsh was replaced by a new Bishop, The Most Reverend Edward Cullen.  I was then pastor of St. Peter and Paul church in Lehighton, Pennsylvania. The bishop came to my parish to do a confirmation. I said, "Bishop, can I ask you something?” He said, "Sure.”

"All my life I felt like I've been called to give retreats,” I said. "I have an opportunity to do that in a foreign country — in the Philippines. Is there any chance you would consider letting me go?”

He said, "Sure. How long do you want to go for?” I was so shocked that I said, "Five years.” He said, "OK,” adding, "I wish more of our younger priests would come and ask me to serve in foreign countries because then they would get a better perspective on the universal church.” His mindset was, "If I'm generous with my priests with the universal Church, nothing but good blessings can come back to the diocese.”

So off I went, 24 years after I first wanted to go down this road. Looking back, if I had done retreat work from the very beginning — if Bishop Welsh said to me, "In 10 years you're free. Go do retreat work;” if the artery had stayed open as I was desperately praying for — I never would have gone to the Philippines.

 


God didn't let me settle for less than what He wanted to give me. But in order for me to get to the point at which He would give me the Philippines, I had to go through a little Good Friday of my own. Because most of the people that I would meet and minister to in the Philippines were either on the cross or directly beneath it. How can I help them if I hadn't gone through a crisis of my own? The poet Edwin McNeill Poteat said:

He cannot heal who has not suffered much,
For only a sufferer sorrow understands;
They will not come for healing at our touch
Who have not seen the scars upon our hands.

When the timing of your prayer is not right, God says, "slow.”

God doesn't love you any less than He loves me. And He has also something in mind for you that will make you happier than you will ever be. But sometimes, because of your emotions and needs, you don't immediately see that.

How special are you?

No one in the history of the world has ever been like you.

No one in the history of the world will ever be like you. No one has your fingerprints.

You have a mission and a purpose in life that cannot be fulfilled by the Pope or the bishops or any of your friends and neighbors, but that can only be fulfilled for God by you. Why? Because no one walks exactly where you walk each day or encounters the same people.

That's why you need to meditate often on the experiences of your life. Ponder the way in which God works in your life and you will find great joy.

This excerpt is taken from CLOSER: Pray Your Way to Intimacy with God by Fr. Bob McConaghy.