Fr. Joseph Juknialis
When I feel sorry for myself or just down in the dumps, when I feel buried by life not going the way I think it should, sometimes I remember to stop thinking about myself and my problems, and I say to myself, I need to go care about someone else. It seems that doing so pulls me out of that tomb of darkness and back into the light.
Then I ask myself, Why didn’t I do that sooner? The truth is, I didn’t remember. But the very fact that I eventually do remember is the spirit of God dwelling within me that pulls me back into life, just as Paul once wrote (Romans 8:9 and the verses afterward). It’s like hearing a voice calling me out of a dreary tomb of death, just as sure as Lazarus heard Jesus calling him out. Have you experienced times when your spirit feels deader than dead, but then someone or something calls you back into life? I have. When that happens to us, I think we’ve been blessed with a hint of the resurrection. When I find myself wondering if there is really life beyond death, if resurrection really does happen to us, then I think about all the times that what I thought was a death turned out to be some unexpected doorway to new life. If that happens with such little deaths along the way, wouldn’t it also happen on our last day on this earth?
Reflect
Have you ever experienced something that seemed terrible at the time that turned out to be a blessing in disguise?
From Our Parish Community bulletin © March 26, 2023, Liguori Publications.