I was re-assigned to work with a different shift leader, who was more accepting of the situation, and a man very strong in his Christian faith. My wife had been a member of the charismatic prayer group at our local church, or I should say her local church since I had not been a practicing Catholic for about 30 years. I could see something in these two people that I was lacking. I didn't recognize it, but I knew I liked it.
Through God's gentle nudging me in the direction of faith, my wife inviting me to her prayer meeting and discussing the Bible at work, my resistance to going back to church was fading. Finally I went to a prayer meeting. Well actually it was the third night of a Born of the Spirit seminar the prayer group was putting on in the parish.
Everyone else was praying, singing, and expressing thoughts and visions brought to their minds. I was just sitting there thinking and I got this feeling. I opened my eyes and there was a priest sitting next to me! I closed my eyes and started thinking some more.
Confessions were being heard by three different priests that night.
Should I go? Yes, no... yes a thousand times. I did go, but just to talk to the priest, the one who was sitting beside me at the prayer service during the seminar. We talked and straightened out a few things that were bothering me and through our conversation I was able to set things straight in my mind. I did go to confession.
In talking over the new feelings I was having with my friend at work, he gave me a challenge. He said I should "pray for my boss!"
"Yeah right", I thought to myself at first. Later I decided I would pray for my boss. I told this to my friend at work. Then he asked, "Did you ever thank God for sending this boss to you?" I choked, "No way! That's too much!" But then I did and it wasn't so bad.
Well to make a long story short, I don't hate this man anymore and he doesn't hate me either. This sure straightened out a lot of my problems. My life no longer centers around my job, which by the way is no longer in jeopardy. I received an excellent evaluation from this same boss, became a leader of a team at work and even started to look forward to going to work.
Other parts of my life started to change also. I looked forward to going to Mass on Sundays and the charismatic prayer meetings during the week. I also started to pray daily and felt good about it. I started using the time driving to work to pray or to listen to a religious tape or radio station. Things that I didn't consider wrong before were no longer a part of my life. These changes did not happen over night. They were very gradual. The more I changed, the happier I became.
What started out to be the worst year of my life actually became the best year of my life. I learned a new way of life, If you give your day to the Lord, He gives you back a better one!
© 1998 Catholic Charismatic Center