Finding Your Always

This weekend, since Thursday. I’ve seen Hamilton and I’ve been to a funeral for my aunt in Texas.  In the final scene of Hamilton, he sings about having a legacy, as does his wife, Eliza.  At the funeral and in the conversations at the rosary and after the mass, over and over again, we heard about my aunt’s profound consistent love for babies and expectant mothers. She’d offer to hold them, and bless every mom she encountered.   Her’s was a joyful legacy of prayer, love, service and enthusiasm.

I sat reflecting on the reality that we should consider what is the always we want to have live beyond us, and be what people say when they remember us.   Dad could pun with anyone, had read everything, but what people remember about him, was his kind heart.   My sister has the gift of singing and it has proven it is a means of ministry more than a few times.  I told my mom, she never just knows a name, she knows the story behind the person –that she missed her calling as a secretary for a diplomat where she could keep the person who needed to know, what they needed to know.   She remembers.  That’s her always, that she’s a history keeper.

Each saint that we know, holds a story of the always that triumphed over their predispositions to sin.  Our goal in life is to be saints, and that involves finding and embracing an “Always” about how we treat others.   Asking to know that “Always” is asking for the call within the call.  It will be both a joy and a challenge that always breaks us open to others, and allows us to share that joy we’ve received every time.   My dad would pray with people when they asked.  They would remember, they’d been prayed with personally.  My aunt likewise, made her presence, er heart present with everyone she encountered. Whatever the “Always” is, it is hallmarked by joy, both for the giver and receiver of the gift.   

So if you feel uncertain, look for whatever it is you do, that when you do it, it brings sweetness and light to others –and feeds you. That’s the always you’ve been gifted to share. It’s not that you must, but if you do, you will find it brings you and others joy. Always.