Scheduling

Every Sunday before our University Mass, the student and professional staff of Catholic Campus Ministry meet to discuss our plans for the upcoming week.  It provides a great opportunity for us to get organized and spend some time making sure we are offering the very best for our small, but dedicated contingency of Catholics on campus.

As of late, I have been trying to compile different schedules and lists for all the opportunities and programs that we will be offering before the end of the semester.  Between five different student leaders and two professional staff members, though, it can get a little chaotic.

At yesterday's meeting, I felt a little guilty as we went through the schedule for the rest of the semester.  Like most weeks, the student staff and I will be seeing each other every day, but as the end of the semester approaches, our daily encounters will become more frequent.  At one point, I found myself being relieved to discover an entire day in the midst of Lent when we weren't meeting or programming.  It isn't that I don't love spending time with these students or that I am burdened by them.  Quite the opposite.  The success of this year and of our campus ministry program is a direct result of their tireless and selfless effort to give.  Simply put, I wish I could give them more time to themselves and more opportunities to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

With all of this on my mind, I was touched by Fr. Matthew's homily at Mass.  He said that anxiety and anxiousness are not really of God.  If we are constantly worrying about tomorrow or how we are going to accomplish our plans in the future, we miss out on seeing God now; present among us today.  I think that his words are very encouraging, but also very challenging.  As I continue to schedule or as I continue to plan for the rest of the semester, it is hard not to get anxious about the workload ahead.

Throughout the course of this year, I have come to the realization that, quite truthfully, the students are the ones who best understand the need to enjoy the present and seek God throughout each day.  Unplanned visits, concerns, worries, joys, prayers, messages and moments that I share with the students day in and day out are wonderful reminders that there is plenty to thank God for.  My sincere hope is that they too are recognizing God in these moments.

So, my encouragement to anyone and everyone reading this, is simple: live each and every day with God in your mind and on your heart.  Leave the worries and anxieties of the future where they belong: your desk calendar!  I am confident that if we work towards this together, then these next few months will be a joyful and wonderful witness to the life, death and resurrection of Christ. Amen?  Amen!