Recently, I was presented with the challenge of being alone with our five children for a week in Spain. Bryce had to return to the U.S. for visa purposes and cost-wise it did not make sense to take anyone else. When I first knew of this in the U.S. I was fine with the plan and not overwhelmed or anxious at all but as the time drew nearer I was becoming more concerned. This was actually the longest we had been apart since having children and of course, there is the fact that we would be on separate continents. Knowing my concern was growing would not have helped Bryce so I tried to keep it to myself. I did make some growth and actually asked for prayers from our community and some of our friends back home. I also kept returning to the reality that this was God’s plan and I needed to trust Him!
Early in the week, Eddie our eldest, and I watched a short presentation by Bishop Robert Barron on Pier Giorgio Frassati. Eddie feels very drawn to this young “blessed” from Italy. In it, Bishop Barron included a breakdown of the call of Peter in Luke’s gospel. He used the term “invasion of grace” to describe the moment when Jesus stepped onto Peter’s boat without permission. This phrase, this idea blessed me tremendously and I knew it required further reflection on my part.
As the week continued my phone stopped working, our car stopped working, our butane for our stove ran out and certain children were extraordinarily difficult to parent in an ordinary manner. Also, Bryce was in Louisiana and his flight was supposed to leave out of Houston during the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey. At many different points in my life, any one of these challenges might have been enough to cause me feel overwhelmed or done in, because truly being a single parent of five in another country is hard enough without anything else going wrong. However, I was able to continually take things in stride, to remain joyful, and to trust that the Holy Spirit was going to fill me with the grace I needed in order to overcome each challenge. I believe that God had “invaded me with grace.”
This invasion might sound lovely to us sitting on the shore. Peter gets chosen by Jesus and then Jesus sends him out to the deep and overflows his fishing nets. Who doesn’t want to have an abundance? And yet, I try to put myself in Peter sandals, a strange man steps onto my boat and makes me go back out into the water after a long, tiring, discouraging night...we had caught nothing! Does this sound as wonderful to us now? Then, Jesus tells Peter to cast his net again! Who does this guy think he is telling me how to do my job!?! Okay, so that’s not exactly following the Bible story, however, I think there is a lot of truth in my retelling of it. Peter probably had a few grumpy thoughts in his mind as would I, but he cooperated anyway and through this cooperation, Jesus offered Peter abundance. He offered him a new life! “Do not be afraid, from now on you will be catching men” (Luke 5:10) and Peter with the other fisherman must have thought this man was offering them something pretty special because they left everything and followed him.
The similarities may not be obvious to you between my one week adventure and Peter’s story. I think it all comes down to the fact that although we might grumble a bit, we both decided to cooperate. And God took care of the rest. I was so glad that particular week that I said “yes” and pray that I will continue to allow Jesus’ invasion of grace to be my strength. Jesus wants our cooperation and is willing to forgive our doubts, our weaknesses, and our grumbles. “It is trust and nothing but trust that leads us to Love.” -St. Therese of Lisieux
