[This was written in 2000, shortly after our arrival in Gainesville.]
The Cenacle is making its small beginnings in Gainesville. Two of us arrived a couple of weeks ago, and two others will come the end of August.
For now we are engaged in the ministry of pots and pans, of mop and broom, instead of the ministry of retreats and spiritual direction. Our days revolve more around the holy hours of preparing meals and contacting plumbers, than around the liturgical Hours of the Divine Office. Sometimes we forget what day of the week it is.
Much that we are used to is lacking. Besides the practical matters of lamps, chairs, office equipment, and the adequate space that we take for granted in our larger Cenacles, there is also the lack for now of a regular and comforting rhythm of life — and occasionally even of the confidence that we are equal to the task, or worthy of the gift of this new venture. But these days, so strangely out-of-time for us, carry with them their own blessing:
the challenge of seeing God-with-us in the nitty-gritty of life;
the call not to be “worried and distracted about many things,” as Martha was (Luke 10:41);
and especially the gift of knowing that God is graciously sufficient, even when many things are still lacking.
“For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.” (1 Corinthians 3: 21)