A Mighty Fortress is our God, a Bulwark never Failing

A Mighty Fortress is Our God is one of my favorite German hymns, written by none other than my favorite German Protestant, Martin Luther. Well, I take that back. My favorite German Protestant is actually Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I don't actually like Luther too much, but I do like his hymns! So despite that fact that he created a serious rift in the Church and gave us some theology so poor that we are still divided over it, I am sure his fabulous hymns must have earned Luther some brownie points with God.

But this is not about Luther or Bonhoeffer for that matter; it is about God - who is a mighty fortress indeed. He showed that to me this week in several ways that I thought I'd just share with you all. First, I found out last week that a paper proposal that I submitted to a major national conference in my discipline got accepted! I have made proposals similar to this before, and each time they have been rejected. The only conference participation I have on my resume is one joint paper and discussion leader. Kind of sparse for someone who wants her job to be giving lectures and writing. So I dove in with wild abandon, because I have been dragging my feet on my academic life! But please keep me in your prayers!

Second, I also got a teaching opportunity at a local university for next spring! Just one class, so it's not too demanding but still gets me into the classroom! YAY!

Third, I have been feeling so...just blah...in my prayer life and as a result I have been going to confession every week just to get some spiritual direction (and to confess, of course) but I already kind of know the answers. But God has given me people in my life who are wonderful examples (like my Magdalene Sisters and my family!) who have been placed amongst my new and old acquaintances who have really expressed answers to my prayers in a powerful way this week.

One is my new friend Kelsea* She is a supernumerary at Opus Dei and is such a prayerful, lovely young woman who has re-revealed to me in a powerful the way God communicates with us through prayer and does so especially for those who trust in him. Kelsea comes to Him in prayer with everything in her life, and even though she struggles with worry and doubt sometimes (don't we all), she ultimately just lets go and lets God have control of her heart, mind, will, and life. I think it's awesome and I am so glad God hit me over the head this past week with the witness she (unknowingly) gave to me.

A second example is an old friend of mine from Louisiana - and we'll call him Mr. Boudreaux*. I met Mr. Boudreaux when I was helping out with RCIA at my old parish in Baton Rouge. I loved doing this, but soon kind of drifted away from that parish to a new one after I met Peter...the new parish was one that he liked better...just another way he sought to isolate me from those who really loved me. Mr. Boudreaux would call me just to say hi and I'd say it's been probably about a year or so since I have seen him or heard from him. Today, out of the blue I got a call from him. He said he was just thinking of me and wanted to know how I was doing. He also told me that the right man was waiting for me - and was coming very soon. He told me to start praying to St. Philomena for this intention and he felt God would answer me right away. What I have not told you is that just this afternoon, I was contemplating whether to pray a novena to jump start my prayer life. God answered me immediately after I left work.

So, see, God is a mighty fortress, always there for us and waiting to give us answers when we call. And even He is even waiting to give answers to people like me, who probably doesn't call on Him as often as she should.



*Names have been changed for privacy