A Day Off

The Crumpet Shop at Pike Place Market

This morning I took my car in for maintenance to take advantage of my day off. I took Lady with me so that we could have adventures.  We dropped the car off at Honda of Downtown Seattle and took off for Pike Place Market.  Since it was only a little after 10 am vendors were just starting to set up and it was pretty quiet.  We walked through the market and stopped off at The Crumpet Shop for some tea and a crumpet with butter and strawberry preserves.  Yum!  Of course I had to share my crumpet with Lady with her big brown soulful eyes.  We sat outside for some prime people watching.

Lady looking bored as I take her picture at The Crumpet Shop

Then it was time to take the bus home.  I got our Orca Cards out, paid our fare, and off we went for a quiet afternoon in West Seattle.

Surprised by Grace

This Lent Father John has been strongly suggesting that we partake in the Sacrament of Reconciliation well before Easter.  I like to confess before a priest who doesn't already know me.  Actually I don't like to go to confession at all but since Father John suggested it, why not?  I was looking for something else on the Seattle University calendar when I noticed that today, my day off from work they had confession scheduled at the Chapel of St. Ignatius from 11:45 am to 12:30 pm followed by daily mass.  I set my alarm, checked out bus schedules and off I went.  I got to campus early and had coffee at the student center.  I found my way to the chapel but couldn't find the reconciliation room.  I asked and was told that the priest who was to hear confession wasn't coming today. I was disappointed and relieved.  Maybe God didn't want me to go to confession with a priest today after all.  It was still well before mass.  I went to the reservation chapel to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament.  I confessed before Jesus and felt his healing.  All the while I was hearing a cantor practicing and saw that the chapel was beginning to fill.  I noticed that people were bringing in booklets for mass and went to get one for myself.  That's when I found out that today was the beginning of a Novena of Grace: A 9-Day Preached Lenten Retreat, Finding My Way Home.

Oh, God wanted me to be here at the Chapel of St. Ignatius for an entirely different reason from the one I had planned.  God is indeed a God of surprises.  I need to find my way home.  I've been struggling this Lent with the prayers of imagination that are suggested in An Ignatian Prayer Adventure from Loyola Press.

I can't seem to get the hang of it, imagining the sights and sounds of the times of Jesus.  Father Paul Fitterer, SJ, one of the presenters guided us in imagining being with Jesus.  He said that we could use a scene from scripture, we could use our home, or a special place.  I knew the exact place, a place where I had prayed many times, a place in nature where the sun shines through the trees and where God listens.  I could imagine Jesus sitting with me there.  When Father Fitterer asked us what word Jesus had for us, Jesus said, "I love you."  I know, I've been singing "Jesus Loves Me" since I was 3 years old but this meant something special.

Back when I was in RCIA coming to know the Catholic faith Julie, one of the teachers told us that we were right where God wanted us to be, right in that moment.  Today God surprised me.