Grumpy :(

I’ve been grumpy lately...

As we enter Holy Week I realized that I was out of sorts. Yes, you might say downright grumpy. At least that would be how my wife puts it. I don’t like things that interrupt my preconceived notion of how things should play out. Yes friends, I guess even Deacons get out of sorts.

My setbacks this week are minor, yet they are mine. Someone decided to perform surgery on my daughter’s car last week. They sliced up the dashboard, stole a stereo and cut several necessary wires that control lights, air-conditioning, and more. Needless to say, my daughter was very upset and faces weeks without a vehicle. Then, I decided to dedicate this first Saturday of the month to yard work. I was so prepared to tackle 10 acres of new springtime growth. Ah, but the battery in my tractor had other thoughts. This frustrated me greatly. So, I did what I could with the small lawn tractor. All this, as I prepare for the numerous events of Holy Week and Easter, prison ministry and settling in to new work assignments at the bank.

Wait a minute Mike; is this the old you or the one who has received blessing after blessing; grace upon grace? God as always worked on me; cared for me, loved me; no matter what. But the difference in these last 15 years or so has been the grace to know this, to be aware of this, to respond to God, generously.

So aware that I am out of sorts, I immediately realize that God is at work on me. Today, on this Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, I proclaimed, in part, the Passion of the Lord. Immediately, I reflected upon the first time I watched the movie, The Passion of the Christ. What if Jesus was feeling out of sorts, what if he had other thoughts or a different idea? No, he put His whole trust in God, His Father. Despite unimaginable pain, horrific torture and an unspeakable death, Jesus submitted, Jesus trusted.

This same type of trust must have been what helped a young Rwandan woman who had bigger problems than a stolen stereo or a dead battery on a tractor. On one of my trips in and out of the house yesterday, I saw the book on the coffee table, not recalling that it was there anytime recently. I just finished the book, and I stopped in my tracks. Here I am giving in to complaining about small stuff and this courageous lady, Immaculee Ilibagiza, is witnessing the death and slaughter of her family, of her neighbors, of her friends, while hiding out to save her life in a tiny bathroom. She hid there not for 1 day or a couple of days; no, for 91 days. And in this tiny bathroom she is not alone, 7 other women are crowded in there too. I guess her routine was upset, her normal not so normal. Immaculee easily could have surrendered to total despair and hate. She did not. She put her whole trust in God, her Father. Her book, Left to Tell, is a must read, especially for all of us who give in to negative thoughts, who want to be in control.

We all face a lot of setbacks in our life; some pain. But we also know the immeasurable joy of a Savior who defeats death and our sinfulness: He Resurrected! And He opened Heaven for us to join Him and the Father. We acknowledge that there is no Resurrection without Crucifixion. About Immaculee; I don’t want to spoil the book for you but in the end, she wins too! She certainly mourned her family, but she did not give in to hate, she loved her enemies and she started a new life; a life full of grace and blessings.

So the next time you get unexpected news, your applecart gets upset, the way you envisioned things happening in your life are not going to happen, trust in God, your Father.

I pray that Holy Week will be meaningful for you; that it does not pass you by as if it is any other week. Watch The Passion, read Left to Tell, pray with the 14th and 15th chapter of Mark, go to Holy Thursday Mass, go to Stations or the 3 p.m. service on Good Friday, celebrate Easter joy in communion with Jesus and your brothers & sisters in the Lord.

No matter what is happening in your life, no matter how long it has been since you thanked God for His Son, no matter if the battery is dead, something has been taken from you, His love never dies and His love can’t be taken away, from you, from me.

Blessed Holy Week,
Deacon Mike