When he was at table with them, he took the bread. He blessed the bread, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him!(Luke 24:13-35)

Friday, August 22, 2008

I get it

Today started out as a real bummer. First, I overslept, so I missed Mass at 6:30. Then, at work, it was hot, we were short-handed, the customers seemed wierder than normal, and I missed my lunch hour--so naturally, I was short-tempered, rude and stressed. I didn't like myself much by 4pm, and I'm sure my employees felt the same way about me. I hadn't eaten, and only had about 16oz of water and a candy bar all day. I was mad at the world, and felt like the weight of the world was coming at me all at once. So, at 4pm, I decided to call it a day at work and maybe sit in front of the Blessed Sacrament and say a rosary before Mass started at 5:45pm to try and calm down. I drove over to St. Joseph's in Modesto and the doors were locked! There was another guy there who tried the doors with the same result I had. I told him, "Great, the way my day's been going, I NEED to get in there and talk to Jesus, and the door is locked!" Right next to the entrance to the church is the Adoration chapel, which has a combination lock on it (I didn't have the combination). I told the guy if I didn't get in to see Jesus soon, I was going to bust! And lo and behold, some lady comes up, opens the door to the chapel and goes in! It took me and my new acquaintence a couple of seconds to realize what had happened! We kind of gave each other that look of "Whoa! He must have heard me!" So my friend knocked on the door, the lady opened it, and we went in. There were about 6 people in there already. I took out my rosary and started praying for calm. 20 minutes later, I had forgotten what a rotten day it had been and felt I was in the proper state of mind to attend Mass and recieve Jesus in Holy Communion. And by now, the church doors were open. But did Jesus stop at merely calming me down? No, as He often does to those He heals, He also admonishes them to stop doing whatever it was that caused their lapses in faith in the first place, so to top it all off, the Gospel is Matthew 22:34-40,

When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them [a scholar of the law] tested him by asking,
"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"
He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

OK, Jesus, I get it. I'm sure I'll fail to love my neighbor over and over again by being rude and short-tempered, but I get it. I also know that You'll be there to catch me every time, and by the grace of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit I can live up to these commandments.

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