There was a time in my life when it was very confusing for me to find the place where God might be calling me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That time was very rich in experiences. I attended LaSallist school, the Jesuit catechumenate, a charismatic Franciscan youth group that organized various other experiences. All of this took place over a period of approximately three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each experience was different, and they exposed me to different angles of what a committed relationship with God can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From all of these experiences, I learned something important and significant, but there was something I didn’t know how to articulate, something that wasn’t complete. As if something was missing. Even with that feeling, I doubted that my perception was adequate; I only doubted myself, thinking there was something I hadn’t yet fully understood, and hoping that someone else would be able to explain it to me at the right time. It was like a lack of direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were no “bad choices,” I just didn’t know where to start and where to continue, as each expression had its own path. And since I was in continuous processes, the follow-through was interrupted. It was as if I wished I had a map of what to do and in what order. And I didn’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And at the same time, each spirituality invited me to take action in a specific way. And when I realized that all the calls to take action in one way or another overlapped, that’s when I experienced something of a blockage. There was so much to do that I didn’t even know where to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you, have you had a similar feeling?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few days ago, I heard a word that I honestly thought was a joke. The word is infobesity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Basically, the word almost defines itself: obesity of information, also known as information overload. And what this word seeks to describe is a mental state in which it is not easy to process the amount of information, creating difficulty in responding and making decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To a large extent, it is with this word that I can thus far describe what must have been happening to me at that stage of my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now moving into my adult life, I’ve also experienced other stages in which I’ve had a similar feeling. But since I didn’t know this happened, I couldn’t call it by its name, hahaha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What I thought at the time was that there was something wrong with me for not being able to make decisions as quickly as I saw other people doing. In my naivet\u00e9, I truly believed it. There were colleagues who took appropriate action, seemingly almost immediately. And for me, it wasn’t that simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I felt like I needed to think longer about how to do things. And I knew there was a lot to do. But not everything was for me to do; in fact, it wasn’t for just one person to do it. That’s why we are a community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Gospel, there’s a scene that captures some of my feelings about this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus is at the home of some good friends, siblings Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. The scene describes how Martha is busy and seems somewhat overwhelmed. So much so that she tells Jesus to tell her sister Mary to help her with her chores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What I felt, that feeling of being overwhelmed, was what I imagined Martha felt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you hear this story, what comes up for you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The busyness, neither for Martha nor for me, seemed to end. And I suppose it doesn’t for you either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How can we address the situation that there are always things to do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a response that surpasses understanding, Jesus tells Martha that her sister Mary (who is at his feet) has the better part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aren’t you intrigued that Jesus himself says Mary has the better part?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For you, what does it mean to be at Jesus’s feet?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the story, being at Jesus’s feet doesn’t seem to be taking arduous, uninterrupted action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, Jesus doesn’t say nothing should be done; he never condemns action. Action is necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What would a way of being be like for you, just being with Jesus, knowing that you need to take action in the right moment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What would it be like for you to be, just being\u2026?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the Spirit leads you, share with Jesus the carpenter the activities you want to accomplish. And perhaps, by being, just being with Jesus, you will discover that from this better part comes the knowledge of what, how, and when to do things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marisol<\/p>\n\n\n\n
P.S. We can hear about acting with the better part in the readings for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year\/Cycle C.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There was a time in my life when it was very confusing for me to find the place where God might be calling me. That time was very rich in experiences. I attended LaSallist school, the Jesuit catechumenate, a charismatic Franciscan youth group that organized various other experiences. All of this took place over a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9443,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-2-2"],"yoast_head":"\n