A Sunday Thought About a Particularly Difficult End of 2023

Now that we've entered 2024, here's a little look back at a particularly difficult end of 2023. It's going to be personal, but that's simply because it's making a point that all of us can share. It's got to do with the importance of our daily prayer, meditation, reading, study, devotions, etc. 

If the habit of spending a solid block of time with God has been formed already, then this may serve as encouragement to continue. If the habit has not been in place, then this may serve as encouragement to begin.

The particular focus here is on spiritual reading - something we should do every day. A good 10 or 15 minutes will do the trick, so there's not a huge burden in making a habit of this. Here's the personal part.

As 2023 began to wind down, the recollection of the 5th anniversary of the sickness and death of our oldest child weighed heavy. It always does this time of year. He suffered a massive stroke on December 15th. He spent 18 days in a coma in ICU. He died the following January 2nd. So the Christmas Season brings all of this with it now. 

Not that Christmas is an any way "spoiled" for us. The joy of Christmas comes from the Birth of Christ. Nothing changes that. But still...

So towards the end of November, the weight of the memories increased. And as it did, I turned to my Father in Heaven with some thoughts:

"Each day now, the 5th anniversary of the sickness and death of our dearest son becomes more and more present. Sorrow, even pain, come with that. But I will try not to allow this to prevent charity (or what little bits I manage) to prevail in all my interaction with my loved ones. Cheerfulness too. But maybe I can share my sorrow with L, and a bit with the gents, if done gently and with the sense that I always trusted and will always trust in You, that I believe that You permitted this for some good for all, ultimately."

But literally after jotting down these words in my diary, this passage from my daily spiritual reading "appeared." (And, to be clear, this was not a coincidence. In case you haven't realized this, there are no coincidences. All happens - all as in ALL - according to God's Will.)

Abandonment And The Importance Of Overcoming Feelings (Part 1 of 2)
Fr. Philip E. Dion, C.M.

“It will be a happy day for us when we are able to rise above merely natural feelings of suffering and sorrow and trials, and perceive and realize God is working within us by means of present sufferings. The more insensible we become to natural human feelings of suffering and pain, the more we overlook them, the more we become alive to the astounding fact that Almighty God, Our Father, is stooping, as it were, at this very instant, to work out His plan in our own soul through this thing that is happening to us. The more we are willing to forget self in our trials, the more we recognize that Digitus Dei est hic (the finger of God is here) right in our very own life. Of course, we shall continue to feel these sufferings. No amount of virtue will ever deprive a man of his sense of feeling, but we will not dread afflictions that come upon us. Adversity will befall us, it is true, but it will not overcome us because we shall know that it is God’s will for us.

“So, the more we are able to rise above our feelings in our trials, the more we shall be aware that God is stooping to be interested in us, to sanctify us, to bring us to a greater capacity to glorify Him and enjoy His happiness by means of all these creatures with which we come in contact, by means of all these events that transpire in our life. If we could only see that and recognize that, how fortunate we would be. But we know from bitter experience that it is difficult to accept suffering well. Often a slight trouble can cast us down, and a slightly greater trouble can crush us. We are such tender, hothouse flowers that we dread, and cringe from, every touch of the wind, of the rain, of the sun, of the frost. Our habit of seeking self-satisfaction, of seeking our own pleasures, our own ease, seeking to satisfy our aesthetic tastes and so on, has made us soft, incapable of putting up with anything that is difficult or hard.”


We'll have more on this next Sunday...

For now,

Happy Sunday!