Six years ago, I was searching. I was in the middle of a bad stretch. A bad stretch with my career and entering a time of depression. It was September 2014, and I was one year removed from attending a Christ Renews His Parish retreat at my parish. I had just spent the last year in formation and preparations for the Spring retreat, and great spiritual growth.
But it was now Autumn, and I was searching. Searching for that next thing that would give me fulfillment, that would give me purpose. I thought it would be a new job. And so, I started looking. I started praying fervently. I came across this website called praymorenovenas.com, and noticed that the St. Therese Novena was coming up. If you haven’t seen this website before, I highly recommend you check it out because they will send you the novena prayers for each day of the novena, and so it is hard to forget to pray each day.
I had read a little bit about St. Therese in the previous months, and her “Little Way” really resonated with me, and her common approach to faith and prayer. She also lived in somewhat modern times (as far as the Church is concerned), the late 1800’s, and her feast day is October 1st, which is my wife’s birthday. I just had a connection with her. So, I decided that I would pray this novena to St. Therese, and pray for her intercession in helping me find my purpose, my calling.
Now, it was around this time when I had also stumbled upon this website called A Catholic Moment. I fell in love immediately with the reflections because again, they resonated with me. They were down to earth, common, everyday thoughts on the scriptures. They weren’t from some theologian or scholar, but rather a woman in the Midwest, Laura Kazlas, who devoted much of her life to prison ministry, but also to posting reflections every day on the daily readings. I loved her writing from the start.
The nine days of the novena came and went, and I intently prayed for a calling to some sort of purpose, something that I could do for God, something that would help people, and something where I could grow spiritually and grow as a person.
About a week or so after the novena had ended, I saw on A Catholic Moment where Laura had asked if anyone was interested in helping with the writing. She wasn’t sure how many people read the site, or how much longer she could continue. Without much thought or hesitation – I replied and said that I would be interested in writing. I didn’t need to think about it. I loved to write. I had really been writing a lot in recent months, trying to build a personal blog, and I also loved Christ and our faith. Sounded like a match made in Heaven – literally.
I felt called to be married. I felt called to have a son. But this was different. This was literally like a drop-the-fishing-nets-and-follow-Jesus-type-of-calling, where I did not hesitate. I just did. Because I knew that it was God calling.
Two weeks later, on October 18, 2014, I wrote my first reflection.
Six years have come and gone. Six years of ups and downs, of career transitions. Six years of worldly events. Six years of reflections on scripture. And six years of spiritual growth. I am good with words, but I cannot find the words to explain what writing for this website has meant to me, and what it has given me, and really my family over these last six years.
The love, the prayers and the kindness that you have all expressed to me and my family have been a gift I did not foresee. And the growth I have experienced from your questions and comments and your own circumstances again, was something I did not foresee.
St. Therese truly interceded for me and Jesus answered our prayers, and called me to write for this website. I wanted to make a difference in the world, and hopefully I did. But I think the biggest difference – was made in me.
And so here I am. It’s 2020, the odd, strange year that it is. Why am I moving on from this website? Again, it’s just a feeling. A calling. Not to something bigger or better, but to something different – another place, another means where I can make a difference, something where my full heart and passion and talents can again flow out of my soul again. I haven’t felt that for a while now.
I do know that I feel called to be that person that helps people see God in the Little Things, in the everyday things, in a simple way. Much like this website, but different. New. And fresh. What this is? I don’t know yet.
This next calling, this next thing is what I will be praying to Jesus for, and asking St. Therese to help with, as I again pray the St. Therese novena starting today. Because here’s the thing – we don’t just have a single calling, a single purpose in life. We all just move on to the next thing from time to time, and our lives are made up of many callings, many ways where we can do God’s work.
I trust that He will provide, and that He will guide me to what is next. I trust that He will call me in the same way He did before, and I will know it when I see it. But always know, that this website, and all of you readers will always and forever remain in my thoughts and prayers.
So, thank you. Thank you for everything over these years. Thank you to Laura for giving me a chance. Thank you for challenging me. And thanks be to God for this opportunity to serve Him in this way, for giving me the words to say, and the unforeseen opportunities that lie ahead. Thank you, Jesus, for the next thing, whatever that may be.
God Bless,
Joe LaCombe
