On Wednesday, August 15, I attended the Newman Center at Arizona State University for the Solemnity of the Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary. Before Holy Mass began, I offered up my before Mass prayers to the Blessed Mother’s intercession. Besides praying for my family, which is usually my first prayer, I asked for a new job here in Phoenix. I was getting worried that I wasn’t finding anything and nothing seemed to be opening up either. After Mass and sitting in Barnes and Noble for an hour, I spoke to my friend who is a seventh grade teacher. She asked me to come over and assist in her classroom as she unpacked books for the upcoming school year. I spent nearly 2 hours with her in the classroom and as I was preparing to leave, we ended up going to the front office, where I met the Principal and Assistant Principal of the elementary school. While talking about family, life, and work, the Principal asked me if she could have my contact information and share it with the Pastor of the parish. They had been praying for a development director, I had recently applied for that position at another school, and she felt that I would be a good fit for the parish and the school. Over the past two weeks, I have been speaking with the Pastor about potentially becoming the development director of the parish. After 3-4 informal interviews and 2 meetings at the diocese, the Pastor formally offered me the position on Friday. I accepted whole-heartedly. Beginning tomorrow, I am the new Director of Stewardship and Advancement at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church. I will be able to use my Masters in Theology since our focus will be on Stewardship. Stewardship is a Biblical concept and 19 of Jesus’ parables are about Stewardship. As I think about starting work tomorrow, I am excited and nervous. There are so many ideas in my head right now. Please pray for me, as this is a new adventure in my life. Please ask Our Lord and Our Lady to guide me in this new direction. So, you were probably wondering why this post was titled Our Lady of Perpetual Help, right? Well now you understand since I will be working at a parish that is dedicated to Our Blessed Mother under this title. I imagine God has a hand in this since my friend asked me to help her, then I met the Principal, who then introduced me to the Pastor and as they say…the rest is history or in this case – Providential. As I reflect on the past two weeks, there are a few other factors that have gone into me attaining this position, however, I will refrain from sharing those with you now. I will say that Our Lady of Perpetual Help is tied into the Byzantine Rite of the Catholic Church. Last Sunday, I attended St. Stephen’s Byzantine Cathedral here in Phoenix and loved it. Although I could never leave the Latin Rite, I have a newfound appreciation for Eastern Catholicism (been going to the Maronite Rite for 1 ½ years) and will continue to attend frequently. I would encourage you read about Our Lady under this title via the link above. You can also view the pilgrimage site for her in the United States as well here and about the Sisters of Saint Basil. Our Lady of Perpetual Help…Pray for Us!