An apology, and small moments

Again, I am very sorry for the posting gap. The last few weeks have been incredibly busy ones at work, with the school year ending and filled with promotion ceremonies. It's really my busiest season, work wise. I'm currently in the throes of finishing up a special high school graduation section for the paper that involves a lot of over time. I've managed to carve out a few hours a week to get to the gym (if only to burn off stress), but most of the time, when I haven't been working, I've been turning my brain off with TV.  I've had several one-day "weekends."

This, admittedly, hasn't helped me settling into the house. Things are still finding their place, although I've certainly made progress.

Anyway, I had a fun little exchange with a coworker last week. I will admit to not being the most vocal of evangelists when it comes to promoting the faith, and for the longest time, I thought that all promotion of the Church had to be BIG. I think I've mentioned before that I'm not very good at it. But I've gradually come to realize that small things make a difference, too.

For example, I didn't used to post much about saints or the Church on Facebook. But the more I thought about it, I realized that not doing so was tantamount to denying part of myself, a part I wasn't remotely ashamed of. Why should other people post about favorite TV shows, or political viewpoints, and me not post about the faith I love? So, although it isn't every day, I now frequently share quotes from saints or venerables, or note feast days, or like photos of Pope Francis. And last week, one of our sports writers asked me a question.

"So, are you doing a new thing, posting about saints every day now?" It wasn't asked in any sort of snide way, just curiously, as something he'd noticed.

I had to think for a second, and realized I'd posted a St. Francis De Sales quote and shared an image of another saint who'd had a feast day.

"Feast day?"

I went on to explain briefly that all saints are celebrated and honored either on the anniversary of their birth or their death.

"So, how many are there?" my coworker asked. "A few hundred?"

I almost laughed. "Actually, there are thousands. I don't even know how many, to be honest, and often there can be 10, or even 20 that have the same feast day."

"Oh," he said. "Ok." And then he went back to writing his sports story.

And in that moment, I realized that was evangelization. Something so tiny, a conversation of maybe two minutes, with no fireworks or grand gestures. A whisper in time, if you will. It made me think of Elijah, and the wind, and the rocks and the fire, none of which God was in, but the rather the smallest sound. Not that I'm remotely a prophet, but sometimes I think God's still, small voice can speak through us, too.