What are the things that make you sad? You may be emotionally very weak, you get upset over little things and end up crying alone. You feel upset when your spouse or children are irresponsible and don’t help out at home. You feel burdened emotionally when someone is not being honest in a relationship. You get easily disturbed when you feel stifled when doing things, quarreling with your best friends and over injustices that are happening around you. You also feel miserable when you have lost someone that you have loved so much and you miss that person dearly and you are not going to get him / her back again. You feel pressured when your boss loads upon you multiple tasks to be completed at the same time.
When your activities for the day don’t go as planned, what is your reaction or response? What are some of the things that make you sad, helpless or hopeless. Do you get upset, irritated and angry?
Even when some of my plans or goals have not been carried out well in the parish, I too feel upset. I notice some poor responses from you, my parishioners. When you are irresponsible with your commitments, I feel annoyed. Often times you surprise me with your objections to the plans and objectives of the parish and this upsets me. However, I am well aware that there will be many more ‘surprises’ from you but I will take them as a challenge in my ministry and I shall accept them as the will of God.
How do we avoid things that make us sad? How can we make ourselves strong in our weaknesses? Even our plans, objectives, goals can be brilliant and well planned but when they are critised or thwarted by others, do not lose your peace. Things can make us upset and surely, God will intervene to contradict our plans and goals just for a simple reason to bring down our pride in order to make us meek and humble. This will help us to grow in that virtue so pleasing to Jesus – meekness and humility. “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth,” (MT 5:5).
We may allow ourselves to be upset over little things right now but who knows we may succeed in many things one day. “We are worried and upset about many things,” but Jesus liberates us saying, “Only one thing is needed,” (MT 10:41-42). We meet many obstacles in our lives but just PRAY that in time, God will free us from all sadness, worries and troubles of life. We shall find courage, strength and peace to overcome all adversities of life. Therefore, just pray and reflect on the reality of God intervening and He will make His plans and wills to turn out better than ours.
Fr. George Packiasamy.