This week has been party week for us: two farewell parties with family and two with church friends. I was very blessed by the outpouring of support from everyone, even though most of them don’t want us to leave.
The reality of leaving this town and my family and friends hasn’t really sunk in yet. I expect that it will hit me hard next week when Paul and I head out for that long drive to Texas. I plan to keep in touch with people through my blogs and through Facebook, e-mail, and snail mail, but that’s not the same as having a face-to-face conversation with someone.
One of the hardest things to leave is our parish here at St. John’s and our parish “family.” When we first decided to move to Pennsylvania from Maryland over seventeen years ago, the first thing we did was look for a good Catholic church and a house nearby, preferably within walking distance of the church.
We couldn’t have made a better choice. We felt welcomed here from the very first moment we entered the church. Over the years St. John’s has been a real “home” for us, where our faith has been nourished and our lives enriched.
As we began to plan our move to Temple several months ago, my first priority was to find an active Catholic parish with many opportunities for spiritual growth, fellowship, and service. My research led me to St. Luke Catholic Church, which is less than two miles from our apartment in Temple.
St. Luke’s offers many Bible studies and has an active women’s group and young adult group. Also, the parish has joined with the two other Catholic parishes in Temple to run an outreach center which serves the poor of the community. Paul and I hope to get involved with charitable works once we move, and I’m hoping that this outreach center will be the perfect place to start. We also hope to continue our study of the Bible, so I have already signed up for a study on the Acts of the Apostles.
When we moved up here in 1998, we left behind a parish that we loved, and it was just as hard to leave then as it is now. Knowing how much God blessed us in our last move gives me confidence that He will do the same this time as well, in our new parish. I’m trying to keep in mind these verses from one of my favorite psalms (Psalm 139:7-10):
“Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend to heaven, thou art there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there thy hand shall lead me,
and thy right hand shall hold me.”
Wherever I go, God’s Spirit goes with me, and that is all that really matters. I just need to trust in God that, if I listen, his Spirit will lead me wherever I need to go and will show me what I need to do.
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