Dear Friend 

Don't Rush Me

Reflection by Rev. Msgr. Joseph R. Reilly

I can’t stand being rushed.  Other than when I need to go shopping (a strategic occurrence for me), I do not like being “moved along” – for whatever reason.  I came to this awareness (yet again) while visiting the Church of the Annunciation, the interior of which is pictured above.  I watched the groups of pilgrims darting about from one sacred spot to another, trying to make sure they got to see everything.  Then after a brief period, I heard rallying cry from their guide and the hurried exercise was over.  I thought to myself: “That’s not very prayerful or reflective at all.  There’s hardly time for the Spirit to make an appearance!”  I felt sorry for the group.  At the same time, I was very grateful that our little “posse” had taken a very different approach – one with plenty of time for prayer and reflection. 

So much of our daily lives is lived out a pace that is nothing short of frenetic.  We make our way to places and through events day in and day out, yet we fail to experience or appreciate their meaning, let alone any significance God may want us to glean from them.  All of that seems to escape us, fading out of sight like an image in the rear-view mirror as we speed away.  We’re off to the next venue!

I don’t imagine Our Blessed Mother approached life in that manner.  She was present to the angel Gabriel who announced God’s favor to her.   She was present to the action of the Holy Spirit within her.  She was present to her Son, Jesus, the Son of God born of a virgin.  Mary is an ever-present model for us and intercessor on our behalf. 

On the lower level of the Church of the Annunciation is the grotto that is believed to be the original home of Mary and the place where the angel Gabriel appeared to her.  These are the words on the altar at the front of the grotto: “Here the Word was made flesh.”  In this place, by this encounter and though this woman’s willingness to be present to God’s plan, the eternal Son became one with us.  God was made manifest, and his Presence is with us still.

That is something worth reflecting on.  And Lent is the Church’s timely invitation to do just that – to stop running and slow our pace of life down, to find time for prayer and silence which are the Lord’s means for us to discover what meaning lies below the surface of the adventures of daily living, and to look to Jesus Christ, born of Mary, whose life, death and resurrection is the pattern for our discipleship. 

I’m not sure about you, but I often find myself inadequate when it comes to following the Lord.  I’m constantly falling short.  Even in my weakness, though, I take heart from words I once read  from Mother Mary Francis, PCC, the former abbess of a Poor Clare Monastery in New Mexico.  She wrote: “The Church must be founded in the heart of each of us.  Our Lord’s love and humility can make something enduring out of our poverty, if only we allow him.”  Mary did just that.  In the poverty of her “yes”, the acceptance of the invitation from Holy Spirit through the words of the angel Gabriel, the Word became flesh.  May you and I ask our Mother Mary’s intercession as we seek to follow her Son.  She delights in making his Presence known to each generation.  Delight is something that should never be rushed. 

Rev. Msgr. Joseph R. Reilly, S.T.L., Ph.D., is the former rector/dean of Immaculate Conception Seminary School of Theology. He holds a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, a licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) from Pontificio Istituto Teresianum, Rome, and a Ph.D. in Educational Administration from Fordham University. He has served as a member of the Archdiocesan Priest Personnel Board, the Advisory Committee on Continuing Education and Ongoing Formation of Priests, the Archdiocesan Vocations Board, and the Board of Trustees of Seton Hall University. Pope John Paul II named him a Chaplain to His Holiness in 2005, with the title of Reverend Monsignor. In 2016 during the Holy Year of Mercy, the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization sought priests who were living signs "of the Father's welcome to all those in search of His forgiveness." He was the only priest from the Archdiocese of Newark formally commissioned as a Missionary of Mercy by Pope Francis.