Everything Is A Gift

Dear family and friends,

I am not by nature an angry person, though looking back, I'm sure my children could give examples of my doing a good imitation of a very angry woman. But it was hard for me to stay angry. As I got older I had to work harder at staying angry, and I just couldn't stay angry overnight. By morning I would have forgotten that I was supposed to be angry about, or I realized the drama wasn't worth the energy and didn't make things better. I guess that is a good thing, at least Michael thought so.

Like most people, I had an idea of what my life, and the lives of others, should be like, and if life veered too far off my expectations, I got angry. Anger by itself was not a blessing for me or anyone else.

God brought so many blessings into my life, but it took a great deal of maturing for me to look at my sufferings as blessings. When suffering came, I soldiered on. I didn't complain about my situation when the inevitable hard times came along; I endured. But I did not thank God for my troubles.

But I can see that each difficult experience made it possible for me to be sympathetic to others who were suffering similar problems. It made it possible for me to understand that things will either pass with time, or I would learn to live with what I thought was a problem and happiness would return.

It's true; the problems that I endured became blessings.

In this sermon Deacon Michael looks at the world and sees all the problems, and gives us a way to face them with serenity.

Everything is a Gift — Living a Catholic Life by Deacon Michael

Know that I pray for you every day.

For Life,

Laura