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Catholic Faith Corner

Living in the Light
of Jesus Christ

Detecting Grace in Life’s Messes

Frost on my window
Frost on my window (Click to enlarge)

 

I can relate to the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day because I just had an entire week of bad days! My phone was cancelled by mistake, and it took six days and talks with seven agents before it was restored. I lost the PBS station on TV (jeopardizing my viewing of Downton Abbey). A new talk I spent days preparing turned out to be cancelled, but no one thought to tell me. Instead of sprinkling a dash of cinnamon in my coffee, I grabbed the wrong bottle and tossed in half of my Vitamin D pills. Then when I stood up, I walked into an open cabinet door. On my way to be a substitute reader at Sunday Mass, I stopped to do an act of charity and got stuck in an icy snowdrift on the side of the driveway; AAA said they’d be there within an hour and half. The reading for that Mass happened to be from the Book of Job. I thought, Just call me Sister Jobette.

No doubt you’ve had similar frustrating experiences. They have been part of life ever since we got ourselves evicted from Paradise. Maybe, like Abraham and Job, we are being tested. So how does a Christian cope? It helps to keep muttering, “This too shall pass.” But there are other strategies. We can consider that cross and thornsour problem could always be worse. (Like I could have driven into a person instead of a snowdrift!) We can make good use of our trials by offering them up. My week was offered for a twenty-one-year old woman with a rare brain disease whose surgery just failed. We can also put our crises in perspective. As the saying goes, “I cried because I had no shoes, but then I met a man who had no feet.” We can realize that we are in good company: none of the saints had it easy, probably because Jesus promised his followers crosses. As this season of Lent begins when we focus on the sacrifice of Jesus, we might remember to unite any of our sufferings with his and thereby contribute to the salvation of the world.

Reflecting on my problems, I can see that some good came from them besides making my life interesting. For one thing, I met many nice people including the technician who came to the house to adjust the phone wire, the person who restored channel 2, and the man who helped shoveled my car out.  The early morning mishaps might be a grace in disguise: a lesson for me to slow down. As for the cancelled talk, my work was not in vain. I realized that the material I developed could be used in a chapter of a book I’m currently writing. In the midst of my trials, and enduring subzero temperatures, suddenly there was an unexpected joy: the sight of an exquisite ice design on my window. 2015-02-16 17.26.11

If we ask God why annoying sufferings happen, the answer might be to make us stronger. In Scripture we read, “Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:3–5). Patience (suffering calmly) is one of the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit. It is a sign that God is living and active within us. Now what to do about my frozen cold water pipes?

What strategies do you find helpful to see you through life’s challenges?

 

9 Responses

  1. Right on target for me, too, Sister Kathleen. Have a little granddaughter in Akron who was just diagnosed last month with leukemia and I just had kidney stone removal surgery on Wednesday. Thank you for your encouraging words.

    1. I;m so sorry to read about your granddaughter, Salley. Wonderful advances have been made in the treatment of childhood leukemia, and hopefully by this time next year, your little granddaughter will be healthy again with no recurrences. I know several children who have recovered completely from leukemia. I hope that helps to give you a little comfort and hope.

      May God bless your granddaughter and restore her to full health.

      Gabrielle

  2. I can really empathize with you, Sister Kathleen. I have still not recovered from the accident I was in last June 4th! I still have to walk with a cane, take aspirin throughout the day, and I even had to use a wheelchair downtown. Physical therapy can be tough and slow as a tortoise! I’ve recovered enough to go to the dentist to have the teeth that were chipped in the accident repaired. I had to have three in front removed! :O I will look “normal” once again once I heal and the implants are put in, but right now, I am missing three front teeth! I’ve been spending lots of time alone! Also, I finally testified in court regarding the money I am owed by someone in Europe. It looks as though things will go my way, but I never count my chickens before they’re hatched. Meanwhile, I’m “in transition” and sleeping on a very uncomfortable futon, which does my leg (and back) no good, but at least I have a roof over my head and food to eat. When I have problems, I always hear the voice of Christ asking me, “Do you love me?” The answer, of course, is a resounding, “Yes! More than anything in the world!” After that, nothing really seems too much to bear, and nothing requires a reason why.

  3. My sympathy, Gabrielle. You certainly have your share of crosses this Lent. Your comment reminds me of something a friend wrote when I commented, “Nothing is too much.” She said, “And nothing is ever enough.”

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Jesus depends on us to spread the Good News of God’s love, offering the world hope and joy. Mary Kathleen, a Sister of Notre Dame from Chardon, Ohio, responds through writing, speaking, giving retreats, and teaching. Her motto, adopted from Eddie Doherty’s gravesite, is “All my words for the Word.”

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