This Week from Mitch

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I hope and pray that you are well. I have found myself counting down the days until summer break ends. There is a move-in date on the horizon, when Denise and I will take our oldest and drop him off. Despite all the high school graduation slogans that proclaim each senior as being "ready to launch" or something along those lines, we see the date coming with a mix of emotions. Love, pride, nervousness, excitement, trepidation, and joy all mixed into one giant ball of anticipation. I found myself reflecting on my emotions as I read this week's gospel. "Lord, teach us to pray?" the disciples ask. From this question, we get the Lord's prayer. 

It's such a simple prayer, known throughout the world, recited together over and over again. It is a prayer of trust, a prayer that does not promise us anything, and it is a prayer of repetition. Repetition, like lifting weights, doing circles on a track, laps in a pool, or playing the same warm-up piece of music over and over again, the act of repetition calms nerves, focuses emotion, and primes us for action. 

For all of us, so much of tomorrow is unknown. Whether it is a rite of passage like a child going to college or even just moving up a grade, or something scary like a diagnosis and a hospital visit, we simply do not know what tomorrow will bring. Repeatedly turning to the Lord's prayer grounds us in our faith and roots us in love. It's a core movement, meant to be repeated, and in the repetition, we are made strong. 

In Christ,

Mitch