Reflections of a beloved son

“They came and woke him, saying, ‘Lord, save us!   We are perishing!’ He said to them, ‘Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?’”   Matthew 8:25-26   Memorial of the First Holy Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church   Who do we turn to in times of trouble? Do we turn inward and drive ourselves into corners? When hardships and difficulties come our way, what do we do? Do we turn to drugs or alcohol? Who do we call out to? When the Apostles were at sea with the Lord, a storm came about and it frightened them. The winds were blowing and the seas were roaring, and yet the Lord was peacefully resting. The Apostles had thought that the Lord had forgotten them and no longer cared for them, but He was right there with them. Would He – could He watch them drown and die? Their faith was weak and allowed the storm on the sea as well as the storms in their hearts to take over, putting them into a state of panic.   When the circumstances of our lives grow s...

By our experiences, we know there are good times and bad times in life. There are moments when we feel we are on the top of the world, but also moments when we feel we are in the depths of a bottomless pit. Hardships are part of the human life. Hardships and difficulties allow us to enjoy and appreciate the good times all the more. Hardships and struggles instill in us a spirit of gratitude. It is the grace of God that transforms our human hardships and struggles into crosses that we will come to joyfully embrace. We will come to embrace those crosses joyfully because we know why we are carrying them. We carry them because Christ carried His for us. And we know we do not carry them alone. Christ carries them with us, and we must encourage one another for we are all journeying together. Just as His Cross brought about the salvation of the world, our crosses will enable us to share in the glory of the Cross. When we embrace our crosses and invite God to transform them, our crosses will b...