Praise be Jesus Christ Now and Forever! Praise be His Holy Name! He is a good God, He is I AM WHO AM; He is Almighty, All powerful, All Merciful, All loving, Perfect Justice, Wonderful Counselor, the Door, the Gate, the Way, the Truth, the Life. He is constant and perfect and knows His people, and they know Him.
Thank You O God for all thy benefits! For family, for an income, for the Mass, for the Saints, for the angels, for the Sacraments, for the Sacramentals, for Tradition, for nature’s remedies, for the bounty of the land, for our sustenance, for the very breath in our lungs, we give You thanks!
Lord, forgive us for the times we have not placed You first in our lives. Forgive us for our limited understanding of Your kingdom. Forgive us for placing our hope and trust in anyone or anything that is not You. Forgive us for division and hate, for focusing on our lack, instead of our abundance. Forgive us for ignoring Your Word and Your Will. Lord, have Mercy on us.
As I prepare for another holiday of gathering with loved ones. I am particularly offering up the challenges of gathering (we all have them: the increased noise, lack of privacy, having to wait your turn for the restroom…) for those who are alone for the holiday, and those who are struggle with large gatherings, and even for those who will frustrate their loved ones. Can I be honest? I really do not enjoy all of God’s commands – especially the love thy enemies and to pray for them. I am soooooooo human y’all. I am trying my best to obey His Word and do His Will.
I recently was able to laugh with another mom about just how human we are! We were talking with each other about the story of the prodigal son. I swear we both blurted at the same time, “I am the brother!” We could not stop laughing at our simultaneous admission. Then, we shared the father’s response to the brother’s very human reaction. His words were so comforting, “Everything I have is yours.” The father did not admonish the brother; he allowed him his very human reaction, and then reminded him that although his feelings were real, they were not reality! He felt cheated and that he was being treated unfairly. The father reminded him though, that all the father had was his, and that celebrating his brother’s return did not change that.
Sometimes our human and fallen reactions are humorous, but we often learn best from laughter. It is such a non-threatening way to learn a lesson. The laughter the other mom and I had about being the brother will be the catalyst that reminds us to ponder the lesson the Lord is trying to teach us through our reaction.
I challenge you to share with someone somehow the reality of how God has revealed His truth to you using humor. It really does make His discipline easier to process. It feels so much better than the two by fours He sometimes uses to get our attention!
Have a great day; share and laugh!
Photo by Katie Treadway on Unsplash
