Article by Phoenix writer Caitlin Hanratty ’25:
While many of my peers struggle to know what they are meant to do with their lives, my problem was that I naively assumed I had it all figured out. That was until my junior year of high school. In the past few months, it has become harder and harder to stare at the glaringly obvious unknown and pretend I know what is in store for me. In the next year of my life, I could be becoming a driver, a college applicant, an SAT and ACT test-taker, the holder of a part time job, and who knows what more? Unlike others, I did not like a challenge, but with so many ahead of me I had to figure out what to do. As the future became less and less clear, I started feeling more eager to find some way to bring clarity to my situation.
My whole life, I thought that remaining in my comfort zone was the recipe for success. If I didn’t have to challenge myself in life, why would I? Why not passively coast through my years when it was easier and more reliable than whatever the alternative was. Well, what happens when you don’t challenge yourself? God throws challenges at you in ways you didn’t expect.
A challenging sophomore year, working a tiring job 5 days a week over the summer, and a lackluster relationship with my faith left me entering junior year discouraged. My tactic of being a bystander in my own life would prove unfruitful in a year where putting myself out there and getting involved is crucial. My comfort zone was no longer an option.
Unsure of what to do, I attended Mass the week before last at Our Lady of Lourdes in Malverne. I’ll admit that my “busy lifestyle” had convinced me to avoid Mass for some time. A long time. But I considered that even though I may not see where my paths are leading, maybe God would.
During his homily, Fr. Eugene sang a song for us. He sang to the congregation in his rhythmic basso profundo, “We’ve got the whole world in our hands.”
I had an epiphany. He was right. We do have the whole world in our hands because God gave it to us.
God has fashioned everything for me to succeed, and I wanted to let it pass me by? He surrounds me with opportunities and presents me challenges to triumph over, and I wanted to retreat into myself? While it may serve me to think only of what I want in the moment, I began to grasp that the answer to what I was meant to do with my newfound challenges was to embrace them and remind myself that God sent me these obstacles only to help me grow.
As these thoughts raced through my mind, I stood up to receive the Eucharist, and in receiving I remembered all that Jesus had to do for the Eucharist to be in my hands that day. I firmly decided that if He could bear the cross for me, I could do the most with the crosses I am meant to bear myself.
