When I was working as a window clerk in Nashville, there were several people who would reply that they were blessed when I asked them how they were doing. That provoked my response: “In what way?” There would almost certainly be a moment of silence, and then the reply would almost always be, “Because I am alive; because I have my health.” If the reply was “I am alive,” I would ask, “Would you not be blessed if you were dead?” Similarly, if they stated they were blessed because they had their health, I would ask, “Would you not be blessed if you did not have good health?”
The response I never received was, “I am blessed because the Son of God, Jesus Christ, became incarnate, suffered, and died for me; I am blessed because I am baptized into Him.” All blessings are contingent upon what Jesus Christ did. Even those who reject Christ are blessed, although they do not realize it. Their biggest blessing is that, because of the love of God, they are given every opportunity to repent. As Catholics, we are blessed tremendously also in that we have the Church and the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist; we have all Truth. If we are in poor health, we can remain grateful because we know it is the providence of God, that it is for our good, not for our harm. May God continue to pour out His grace upon us in abundance through Jesus Christ, our Lord. --TT
No comments:
Post a Comment