Daily Reflection
December 15, 2025

In my role at Creighton I have been blessed to be asked to write quite a few letters of recommendation over the years. From law school to medical school to graduate school to dental school….for scholarships and internships and jobs. Students have spent years by the time they get to my door frame (or email inbox) preparing. They have studied and prepared academically. They have researched and written paper upon paper. They have put in endless hours volunteering, shadowing and leading. There are entrance exams, graduate/professional school interviews and transcripts being sent.

And then they wait. And wait. And wait some more. Maybe a friend hears from a school before them, increasing their anxiety and self-doubt. Perhaps their dream school denies them admittance flat out. And then there are students who are waitlisted. The proverbial limbo of the next stage in their life. They question this pause. Should they apply to other places? Find a new plan? Scrap a childhood dream? Doubts and tears and hugs abound. Pep talks ensue. I try to remind them that their status is the same as the day before….wait-ing for an answer is the same as being wait-listed (admissions counselors, please know I know the nuance, but keep reading for this reflection to make sense!). This new term does not diminish their worth, dignity or all the efforts put in. This is always easier said than done.

***

Today is Gaudete Sunday. We light a different color candle today on our Advent wreaths to commemorate our rejoicing. Our waiting for Jesus’s birth is halfway through. Today’s readings speak to our hearts waiting. We are reminded to ready our hearts and to prepare in thanksgiving. The Gospel reminds us that God is near and to be patient. John the Baptist reminded those around him that he was not the Son of God but rather to prepare humbly for His coming.

***

Years ago, a friend was discerning entering the Society of Jesus. He was the first person to introduce me to the prayer Patient Trust by Teilhard de Chardin. Today, it is my prayer for us all. For the students waiting to know what their next steps may be. For those who battle illness and are awaiting a cure. For those battling persecution and are waiting to be seen and their dignity upheld. For all of us waiting on Christ’s arrival. Let us all be reminded that we are Christ for one another in this time of waiting for His return.

Patient Trust

Above all, trust in the slow work of God. 

We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. 

We should like to skip the intermediate stages. 

We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.

And yet it is the law of all progress

 that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—

 and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you; 

your ideas mature gradually—let them grow, 

let them shape themselves, without undue haste. 

Don’t try to force them on, 

as though you could be today what time 

(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) 

will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit

 gradually forming within you will be. 

Give Our Lord the benefit of believing

 that his hand is leading you, 

and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself

 in suspense and incomplete.