When I first started homeschooling about 16 years ago, I read all the books I could get on how to organize my day to accomplish everything I needed to do. I had a newborn baby, a Kindergartener, and a 4th grader to teach while my husband traveled for work during the week. I knew it would be challenging, but I thought that once I found the perfect chore chart, school planner, meal planner, and schedule, we would all jump into a perfect routine, and eventually, things would run smoothly. Spoiler alert… I was wrong. As soon as we found a routine that “worked” for us, life would throw a curveball and we would need to adjust. Like the map app on my phone, I would need to “recalculate” our route every time there was an accident on the road.

"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.” (Lk 10:41) We, like Martha, become worried and anxious about many things as we struggle to live a balanced life. It seems like we are constantly being pulled by conflicting needs. We struggle to balance the needs of our spirit and the needs of our body, the need for solitude and the need for community, the need to contemplate and the command to serve. All these are good things, but as we struggle to root out our vices with virtue, to battle selfishness with love for others, our attention moves away from Jesus and towards our failings and we grow anxious.
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Can you hear the sweet and tender voice of Jesus speaking to one He loves dearly? “Martha, Martha” … I imagine these words were enough to calm her heart and re-focus her attention on Him whom she served. When life throws a curve ball now and I find myself disoriented, I try to remember that God is in control. He has a plan for me and has already recalculated the best route for me. I close my eyes and listen to Jesus addressing these words to me, saying my name twice, and my anxieties and worries melt away. “Martha, Martha” …“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine.” (Is 43:1)
 
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By Laura Worhacz

By: Ivonne J. Hernandez

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‘In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.” (Eph 1:11-12)
 
Meditation:

Most of us are not very good at waiting. We live in a time of instant gratification, in a society that values productivity and therefore tangible results. We feel good when our checklists are completed, when we can look back at our day and feel we accomplished things. We try to do multiple tasks at the same time because there is not enough time in the day to complete everything on our lists. Our lists keep growing because we don’t have time to sit back and look at the big picture. We just keep piling things on and juggling the best we can. We don’t have time to stop and ask God if this is what He wants us to be doing with our time. Why? Because if we ask, then we will have to wait for an answer -- and we do not like waiting.

Waiting implies trust and requires relinquishing control. This is why many of us are terrible at delegating. “If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.” We probably all have all heard that idea or a form of it at one time or another, and those of us who have children probably have many stories proving the “wisdom” in those words. The question to ask though is: What do we mean by ‘well’? If we mean “how I want it” or “according to my plans”, then yes, the idiom would be correct. But if by ‘well’ we mean according to God’s plans and designs, then we run into a problem when we don’t stop long enough to ask God what His plans are. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways.” (Is 55:8)

We must try to live our lives in a constant state of discernment. We need to be attentive to the still small voice within us. (1 Kings 19:12) When we take the time to see God’s hand in every aspect of our lives, our trust in Him grows. “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you—oracle of the LORD—plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.” (Jer 29:11) We need to be reminded of these truths all the time, because we forget. And Jesus knows us very well. He knows our weaknesses and He gives us the remedy, Himself in the Eucharist. “Do this in memory of me” (1 Cor 11:24). When we receive the Eucharist, we remember. We remember who we are, we remember who God is. We remember His love for us, and then we can wait, full of trust and hope, knowing in the depths of our soul that our help comes from the Lord. (Ps 121:2)
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By Laura Worhacz