alright we got a problem a paralyzing
problem called uncertainty and mother
Claire is with us to talk about that hey
I'm father mark Mary and I'm mother
Claire
we are the Franciscan friars and sisters
of the renewal and very very very happy
to have mother Claire with us first time
having a sister on our little vlog here
and mother Claire is the community
servant of the Franciscan Sisters of the
renewal and also worked a lot in
vocations and what we're talking about
today is uncertainty and the way in
which as you mentioned uncertainty can
be a very common problem and a
paralyzing problem and so mother Claire
if you could help us understand
uncertainty and understand how to to get
through it sure thanks first of all
thanks for the invitation it's really
great to be doing this with you and
uncertainty is it is a huge problem it
is and in my work with the sermon
especially I think it's something that I
saw and see with people trying to get in
touch with the will of God and move
forward in following him and it comes I
think from this sense that there's a
right way you know isn't our whole faith
about like discovering the truth and the
right way and then if there's a right
way there must be a wrong way or a lot
of wrong ways or a lot of wrong ways and
I'm sure to find them if they exist and
so it does it produces this uncertainty
on this insecurity and and that's a form
of fear really and fear tends to
paralyze us and and when we're paralyzed
we can't move and we can't act and we
can't follow probably if you've been
serious about making any sort of life
decision especially in discernment
you've experienced uncertainty so
another question is okay we know that
it's it's caused by fear and the
capacity to make a mistake and go take
our whole lives down the wrong direction
so how do we commit yeah yeah the word
that comes to mind is trust the the word
the concept the idea of trust and and
that's because you know Trust really
isn't even possible if we live in a
certain world you know if everything is
figured out and there's a clear path
there's no need for trust
cuz everything is obvious and there's no
need for trust so so the kind of a good
thing if you will about uncertainty is
if it creates a space for trust and the
father wants us to be free and part of
our freedom is to be able to act to be
able to decide to be able to live to be
able to move and uncertainty can prevent
that so so how do you overcome the
uncertainty how do you get past it how
do you continue to act in freedom of the
freedom of vision and how do you grow in
trust and how do you grow in trust and I
think really it's it's through
relationship it's through the
relationship with God through a lived
daily relationship because we have to
know the one we're putting our trust in
we have to we have to know him more
intimately so that we can trust him and
then part of the equation too is
decreasing in trusting ourselves or
trusting some other lesser measure than
God you know because we want to place
our trust in all kind of empirical
knowledge or the scientific method or or
the tried-and-true procedure or best
practices and policies or whatever and
instead of that how do I place my trust
in God in the one who has the answer the
one who knows my future the one who has
my best interest at heart and so that's
through relationship through prayer and
through that beautiful prayer really
have seen John the Baptist let me
decrease so he can increase let me take
my eyes off of myself and put them on to
him yeah and I think as we were talking
like part of the movement of trusting
another in this case ultimately God who
is the most worthy of our trust is that
involves a letting go of trust in
ourselves because sometimes we think our
own ideas for what our life should be or
how things should work out is infallible
right right like I know exactly what it
should look like so I want to control
the ends to make sure I create what I
know I want right right right but as
we've learned in as you as you walked
the spiritual life like as we learn to
allow the Lord to be the one who really
guides and to put our trust in him and
trust him even that he's able to dream
better for us than we're able to drink
for ourselves that's certainly part of
the process and it's it's not
necessarily easy but it's necessary and
and true and I think one of the prime
examples from the Gospels of trust is
Peter being invited out of the boat to
walk on the water that's a great
Scripture because you can just place
yourself there I mean you can really
imagine put put yourself in the place of
Peter you can be on that boat you can
see the Lord and and just feel the fear
of not wanting to step out onto water
you know and and so we're nothing as
certain because we don't walk on water
and and so and so you know you could
just see that the Lord is holding Peter
up as an example for us in some ways too
you know if you're if you're looking at
me if you're trusting in me if you're
following me nothing is impossible
nothing has to be certain because I'm
the certain one I'm the certain
unmovable one in this equation and so no
matter what else is swirling around us
you know he is he is the unmovable
strong knowing loving peace yeah and one
of the things I like about the gospel as
well is is um we act sometimes like once
I make a decision okay like I'm on my
own like once I step out the boat I'm
like I have to live with all the
consequences forever but the truth is
like as this gospel tells us is so G so
Peter steps out of the boat and he takes
his eyes off the Lord and begins to sink
but then the Lord comes and saves him
the Lord intervenes the Lord is still
present and active in Peters life he's
still there they're there they're there
together
they're before they're during their
there after he's there yet and again
like for a lot of us it's it's really
hard to to trust that God is is gonna be
with us along the journey but it's true
it's true but it's a true and now we've
talked about as well is it's one of the
the paralyzing aspects of uncertainty is
we feel like once we make that first
step we're thinking about like all the
next write the whole 40 years of steps
you know I so so with the vocation
question our dynamic sometimes we're
paralyzed from picking up the phone to
calling a religious order or something
like that because in our minds we're
thinking about
50 years down the road and and you know
that we're gonna be committed to this
community immediately yeah absolutely I
mean there's a lot of fear involved
because right we're taking we're taking
the wholesale project so if I you know
and I've had this experience I have to
have this experience myself and my own
discernment there with many women in the
journey fearful of this might be
somewhat attractive but I don't know if
I can make final vows but you don't have
to make fine hotels right now it's just
about making the one step of picking up
the phone and and the grace isn't there
for the whole of the journey today the
grace is just there for today you know
and that's an important part to remember
just living in the present moment just
doing the taking the one step taking the
one action that the Lord is asking of us
right now and then 40 years will come as
40 years unfolds right you know and and
and just to allow ourselves to just live
in the present the present moment so I
think so so we've talked about it so if
somebody is facing uncertainty about a
life decision especially a vocational
decision certainly the first step is to
keep that relationship keep focused on
the Lord with life of Prayer in
particular I think really a source of a
real great experience of God's
trustworthiness is a sort of a daily
encounter deal you spending time with at
the scripture and then also is at some
point you need to make a step you need
to make a step you know if it's if it's
a vocation thing you pick up the call
that's not it may feel like a huge deal
it's not a big deal it's not a big deal
you know is that one step yeah yeah
father mark Mary is so true you know the
prayer is the most important thing his
sermon needs to flow out of that
relationship with God but then also this
talking about it you know it can I named
what the fear is can I can I bring it
from that dark recesses of my own heart
out into the light out into the open and
if I can do that if I can name the fear
it all the sudden shrinks into sighs
it's not this ominous you know
omnipresent cloud but it's it's
manageable so so being able to name it
talk about it with someone else and then
yeah take a step take a risk
make them
act you know what makes us human the
ability to act in freedom beautiful
beautiful
well we thank you for watching we thank
you for being with us so let's pray
let's talk let's make a step and let's
let's show uncertainty who's boss
let's trust in the Lord alright so we
thank you so much for watching we'll see
you again next week remember we are
pilgrims on this earth so most
peregrinos but poco poco a little by
little we're gonna make it I'm so you
guys thank you so much bye Oh