This weekend I return from my vacation and work trip to Spain and Germany. Ask me. I am sure that I will have a good story or two to share. I hope to have some good photos as well.

         As I write this article a few days before I depart on my trip I am noticing that I am becoming more excited. Also, I am noticing that I feel anxiety and nervousness. Such feelings arise from a sense that I am unprepared, that I have forgotten something, that I will not complete the work that I need to complete (like this article!), and worst of all, I have anxiety that no one will miss me! However, I have begun to notice another trend. I am already deciding that some things that I thought that I ought to bring with me are not that important. I have realized that some tasks are not necessary to complete. There will be time when I return at the beginning of October. Or, there will not be time, but the task is not that important. And finally, I am becoming more at ease with the idea that, while I am well-liked by some and I do ministry that is important, my life and ministry are not absolutely essential within the world and this local community.

         To admit that “I am not that important,” is a difficult but necessary admission for everyone. Such an admission is humbling, but not humiliating. I recognize that my value within a group, parish, family, or community is significant, but not to the point that my absence is fatal to anyone.

         Some of you are already speculating about what I mean by all this. I do not intend anything more than the words I have written. I do not have any plans to leave group, parish, family, or community. I only admit that all of life will go on,  and someday it will be without me. That said, I desire with all my heart to make the best of what I contribute to the various persons and groups of person with whom and among whom I live and work.

          I like what St. Paul writes to the Philippians (1:20-26) – "My eager expectation and hope is that I shall not be put to shame in any way, but that with all boldness, now as always, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For me life is Christ, and death is gain. If I go on living in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. And I do not know which I shall choose. I am caught between the two. I long to depart this life and be with Christ, [for] that is far better. Yet that I remain [in] the flesh is more necessary for your benefit. And this I know with confidence, that I shall remain and continue in the service of all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that your boasting in Christ Jesus may abound on account of me when I come to you again."

 Peace, Fr. Andy