Coincidences don't exist.
In friendship...we think we have chosen our peers. In reality a few years’ difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another...the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting—any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking, no chances. A secret master of ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,” can truly say to every group of Christian friends, “Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another.” The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others. - C. S. Lewis
A rather lengthy quote from the great Christian writer C.S. Lewis has consumed my thoughts over the last few months since seeing it on Facebook. As I read this quote I began to think about my own life and my own friendships and I came to one simple conclusion: they are no coincidences. All of my life Christ has been forming me for the moments I am in right now. All of my life Christ has been opening and closing certain doors to lead me to the people I have in my life right now.
When I was getting ready to apply for colleges there was only one college I had in mind: Texas A&M University. At the time I was planning to study Agriculture Engineering and continue to develop relationships I had formed in my high school years. However that was not the plan God had in store for me. Instead of TAMU, I ended up at Tarleton State University. While at Tarleton, I got involved with the Awakening Retreat Community and met a close friend (shout out Brandon) who told me about Franciscan and his desires to serve as a youth minister. Being from a small town in rural Texas, I had no idea what a Catholic youth minister was. In my mind there was only the priest and the parish secretary. A desire I had been feeling to serve the Church and bring people to Jesus was now being presented to me. I left the retreat and applied as a transfer student to Franciscan. God was setting the stage for what was going to come next.
By the time I made it to Franciscan in the Fall of 2017 I only had two things on my mind: I want to join a household and I want to be involved in ministry. Brandon pointed me in the direction of both the ministry and household as I joined SENT ministries and Fishers of Men household that Fall. While on SENT I made friends with Andrew’s future wife, Miriam, and it would be through Miriam that I would come to meet my best friend and brother. Andrew would later also join Fishers and we would bond over a variety of interests. God had a plan in mind for all of this.
By the time I left Franciscan in the Spring of 2020 many things were uncertain. There was a global pandemic, and I was set to move away from my friends to Texas to begin a career in youth ministry. Ultimately in conversations with friends and mentors I found my heart and mind being drawn back to the Midwest and to the Catholic community I once had. I found myself teaching at a Catholic high school where I made connections with the larger Catholic community. After a year of teaching I began to explore if God was calling me back into ministry. Of course there are no coincidences for God. I applied for a position as the Associate Campus Minister at St. John Student Center in East Lansing. Both of Andrew’s brothers had attended St. John's while students at MSU, and knew some of the panelists for the interview. The chaplain at the high school I was working at knew the pastor of the parish when the pastor was his high school chaplain. One of the people in the development office at the high school was having lunch with the pastor and was a parishioner at the parish. None of these are coincidences. Instead they were guided and directed by the hand of the divine architect.
I tell you this story as an illustrative point: there are no coincidences. Not for God and not for the Christian. Had one thing been different in the story my whole life might have been changed. I am filled with gratitude for the many doors God has opened and closed. To the friends I have made along the way, I am grateful for you as well. God’s hand has brought us together for our good. I hope as you think and reflect you can see that.
—Joshua Janda
