by Sr. Sheila Campbell, MMM  Ireland  07.11.2021

This coming week is going to be hectic.  I won’t bore you with details but it will be one of those periods when routine disappears and life is suddenly full of many tasks and many new people.  Then, at the end of the week, I may be travelling overseas.  But I do not know yet.  It looks like I will only have a twelve-hour warning before I head to the airport.  It is easy to feel overwhelmed.  It is at times like this that I think of one of Mother Mary’s sayings:

“We must all have a great deal of common sense.  In our medical work we aim to do all as perfectly as possible.  But we cannot do the impossible.  Then we can grow in faith and trust God to look after what circumstances will not allow us to do.”

Mother Mary wrote this back in 1962 when she was seventy years old.  She was speaking after years of experience, a lot accomplished and with a vision that so much more needed to be done.   She could have ended up feeling discouraged, but she turned again to one of her favourite themes – trust.

To believe in trust is first of all to recognise that I am not self-sufficient.  I need others.  Mostly I feel I am a responsible sort of a person, I can get by on my own steam.  My parents taught me to be independent, encouraged me to have my own views and interests.  They encouraged us all to go out into the world and follow our dreams.  So I think of myself as someone who can cope with life’s hurdles.  That is the danger!  When I am over confident that is when I will trip up, or be tripped up by circumstances beyond my control.  There is a happy mean between being independent and also realizing that I am totally dependent!

Trust is the virtue of someone who sees life as half full, rather than half empty.  To trust is to deep down believe that all will work out for the good in the plan of God.   This week is a busy week and it will be stressful if I do not keep “hanging on” to God in trust.  Let me keep my sense of humour and not take myself or the busyness of the week too seriously!