Have you ever reflected on the people God places in your path? There are no coincidences, but, as the phrase goes, only “God-incidences.” We have much to be thankful for.
From Hosts to Friends
Reflecting on a phone call with a good friend, it occurred to me just how active God’s divine providence is in our lives–in every moment of our lives, to be more precise. Until a few years ago, I’d not met Tom or his wife Julie. They live half a country away from me, yet we have much in common. We only became acquainted after they volunteered to be a host family for me when I attended an on-site intensive training session.
The program I was in called for, among other ongoing classes, two annual on-site gatherings. So, I was blessed to be able to spend at least parts of a couple weeks with them due to their hospitality. We continue to stay in touch, talking, texting and emailing–sharing with each other, supporting one another. On top of that, there are the relationships with the other members of my cohort and our instructors that continue on as well. What a gift from God to have these relationships.
Our Parish Support Network
In a similar way, I can see how the Lord placed others in the path of my wife an me over the years, particularly during the last decade or so when we moved to another diocese and parish. We spent time visiting a few of the local area parishes, attending Mass (and the obligatory donuts afterwards) to get a feel for each parish. We wanted to relocate close to our adult children, but also find a parish that was both vital and welcoming. Those attributes describe our current parish to a tee.
We’ve been blessed to get to know so many individuals and couples at the parish in our eight or so years here. It’s a rather large parish with about 2,400 families nominally registered. Yet, if one of us doesn’t show up for Mass for awhile, people begin asking if everything’s okay. This is just one example of the blessing of a caring community of believers where the Holy Spirit dwells and actively guides the faithful. Making friends in the men’s group and women’s group increases mutual charity and support, with yet more blessings from these good friends.
God’s Hand in the Family and Elsewhere
Looking back further, perhaps we can see God’s hand in so many other events, circumstances–and people–in our lives. Starting with our families, whether biological or otherwise, God’s active and passive will placed us where we were or are. We may hold awesome, poignant, unforgettable memories of family members and circumstances. Some memories we may wish to forget. No matter which categories they comprise, these memories and events represent God’s active or passive hand in our lives.
Going through grade school and high school, God placed more people in our paths. We may still stay in touch with some of them, no matter our age. My all boys high school graduating class had about 50 young men in it, many of whom stay in touch to this day, at least by email. From the teen years through early adulthood and into middle age or the senior years, we receive more potential blessings through those God places in our path. And this includes our spouses with whom we are blessed to collaborate in getting one another to heaven.
The Connections He Makes for Us
Sometimes God places one person in our path, who then leads us to another, who leads us to even more. A few years ago, we began providing transportation to Mass for an elderly lady in our parish. Before she passed on, she introduced us to a wonderful prayer group she’d been part of for years. At a meeting last year, one of the men in that group was handing out books for a nationwide consecration to Jesus through Mary. We wondered why we hadn’t heard about his before, so I tracked down the book’s publisher to ask about it. He put me in touch with a leader from the group sponsoring the consecration. Through that connection, we were able to collaborate on the coast-to-coast consecration, and this led to yet further collaboration and friendships. And, praise God, our blessings continue as we participate in monthly prayer meetings with the prayer group our friend left as one of her many legacies for us. Isn’t God good?
The Sandpaper God Places in Our Path
God also has placed people in my path over the years who, at first blush, seemed anything but a blessing. I don’t believe I’m alone in this regard. Think back about the occasional person who may have caused you more consternation than consolation at times. Consider those who seemed to grate on you, that you wished you could avoid when you saw them coming toward you. If we’re honest, I think at least some of us can relate to this. None other than St. Therese of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church, even mentioned a sister in her monastery that caused her frequent frustration. God places these people in our paths for a reason. He uses them to smooth off our rough edges, to mortify us and prepare us for greater holiness. Looking back, he’s had to apply a lot of “sanding” to my rough edges over the years. More, undoubtedly, is in order.
Help Those God Places in Your Path
God will place people in your path, and in my path, for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, it’s to provide us with that smoothing, that sanding off of our rough edges. At other times, it may be that the person in front of you or me needs us badly for help. He needs the love of God administered to him practically and in real time. Maybe she desperately needs our works of mercy right now. If we think about this, what better way to get out of a personal funk, or avoid one, than to look outside ourselves, loving our brothers and sisters in Christ as He loves us? If we stay recollected in the presence of Our Lady and Our Lord, they’ll give us that gentle nudge to say or do something for someone else. We just need to pay attention.
Who’s in Your Pack?
God puts people in our path to support and encourage one another. These friendships in Christ help us continue to build His Kingdom here on earth, and does the world ever need that now! Dan Burke of Apostoli Viae and the Avila Institute is fond of saying that “saints run in packs.” Looking back in history, consider some of the great saints who were contemporaries and friends. St. Francis of Assisi and St. Dominic de Guzman come to mind.
What about St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross who together reformed the Carmelites and gave us so much in mystical theology? Then, there are St. Bonaventure and St. Thomas Aquinas. Of course, there are Sts. Louis and Zellie Martin, married and parents of St. Therese of Lisieux; and Sts. Benedict and Scholastica, brother and sister. I could go on, but the point is that we need–our souls need–the company of others to support one another and bring each other and many others’ souls to God. Surround yourselves with the like-minded people God places in front of you who are pursuing intimacy with Christ. Grow together in your faith.
13 thoughts on “The People God Places in Your Path”
Dom, Praise God, what a lovely article!
I chuckled at the aptly named “sandpaper” people God places in our lives!
I recalled many years ago while attending a women’s retreat in a neighboring state, I met and clicked instantly with someone. We spent the whole day together chatting and praying between sessions. At the end of the day we looked (a bit awkwardly) at each other with tears in our eyes and she said “whelp, I’ll see you in heaven someday”. My reply was another hug. Friends in the Lord (like you) are so precious!
Julie, thank you for your kind words! And friends in the Lord like you and Tom are a true blessing–and not of the sandpaper variety– 🙂 God bless you – Dom
I decided to do my daily walk today in my church parking lot instead of the neighborhood. Cars started arriving, and little girls in white dresses, and one little boy in a blue suit hopped out with proud moms, dads and siblings. I had stumbled onto the first communion which had been postponed due to the coronavirus. I watched from the far reaches of the lot and WEPT–for the past, (my own first communion, my sons’ first communions, the years I taught), for the present (the children who were being “presented at the temple” as I prayed the fourth joyful mystery) and for the future (hoping we’re back to normal next spring when my first grandchild will make her first communion). The children and their parents didn’t even know I was there, but I know God put me there for some reason.
Emily, thank you for sharing this touching reflection on your experience. God did, indeed, put you there for a reason. Perhaps it was for your recollection of those past blessings, your prayers for the current group of children and your prayers for the future of your granddaughter. Or–maybe He wants you to spend some time in prayer with Him about all of this. God is so good, isn’t He? God bless – Dom
Dom-Many thanks for this.
Dom, NWFOR, and Pauline, et al, I have always liked these from CS Lewis [from THE WEIGHT OF GLORY] which echo your thoughts, Dom:
“Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.”
““It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which,if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all of our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics.There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously – no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. . . .
Thanks, Guy! And thank you for sharing these great words from CS Lewis! Great advice for all of us to consider. God bless
We’re a military family, with relatives and friends scattered all over the country. Unfortunately, though a series of circumstances, we’ve retired to an area with plenty of the “sandpaper” mentioned in this article. It’s difficult watching our children grow with no extended family nearby. We seem to mix with most of our fellow parishioners and neighborhood residents like oil and water. The homeschool mecca / large family parish with the devout crowd didn’t really accept us, which was a crushing, heartbreaking blow.
Yesterday I finished a novena that God surround us with a community of friends and fellow believers. It’s hard not having any sort of connections. FYI we practice regular hygiene and remember our manners. I’ve no idea why we’re unnoticed and on the periphery like we are.
Please, PLEASE Pray for us that we can have the “extended family” we need.
God bless.
First – thank you for your service to our Country. May Our Lord richly bless you for it. Your family will be in my prayers. I know how hard it is to be in a situation you describe.As an immigrant and a grateful citizen of this great country, I lived many years searching for the extended family you long for and finally started accepting that that may not be what Our Lord wanted for me. Yes, I have good family and good friends and great coworkers, but not a spiritual family. But that made me grow much closer to my real spiritual family- Our Lord, Our Lady, the Angels and the Saints and All the faithful people everywhere whom I communicate with through prayer, reading and social media. Please stay strong in faith and hope and keep asking Our Lord to guide you.
I will be praying for your family! That is a very difficult situation. I will be praying for people to move to your area whom are faith-filled people and who will become that loving extended family your family longs for. In Jesus’ name, amen!
Hi there! While scrolling to reply to Dom, I came across you. And my heart goes out to you and your family and the thousands of other military families who are in the same boat. I do not have an “extended family” either. However, I am older and way beyond the years when there were children and school and more to deal with. But I do remember living where I didn’t speak the language with a husband traveling and a little one in the local school. It was hard and my only respite the local church, also in a language I didn’t know. My prayers are with you. Hang on in there. God knows what you are going through. And His plan is sometimes hard to understand. Cyber hugs.
I am so sorry to hear of this. As others have suggested, praying to God for guidance and help are key. We never know for sure what He has in store for us in such circumstances. If you haven’t already tried to volunteer to assist at some function, that could be an ice breaker for you–we routinely suggest to our new parishioners here that they volunteer for the hospitality minister role (usher) at weekend Masses, e.g., to get to greet and meet others and begin to build up some familiarity with them.
As well, if possible, you might want to look into other nearby parishes that might provide a more welcoming atmosphere for you. Each parish has its own personality, so to speak, in my experience–some of it driven by the priest in charge and even more by the long-term parishioners.
Meanwhile, you are in my, and my wife’s prayers. God bless you.
God placed my husband and I in a hurricane shelter. There we met two lovely women who spoke to us about their church. This led me, a lapsed Catholic, back to church and my husband to convert. Coincidence? No! The Holy Spirit.
Thanks for your witness. Praise God! Clearly His hand was in all of this! God bless