Wasted Opportunity

This past week was one of the hardest weeks for me in many aspects.  I was the most stressed I had ever been at work (I usually handle the day-to-day bustle with a calm demeanor but somehow this week was different)  I found myself getting irritated at the drop of a hat.  Sadly this irritation came from the fact that I had set these standards for the folks that I deal with and somehow made myself the one to determine how others should behave.  It would not have been so difficult if it stopped at getting irritated, what makes it worse is the fact that in my frustration and anger I get short with the people I am dealing with and I throw all desires to be charitable out of the window.

Every morning I say a prayer to the sacred heart asking for the Lord's help in growing in the virtue of charity and humility.  I know very well that when we ask the Lord to help us grow in the virtues (patience, humility, charity etc.) we are given the opportunity.  Patience is not given to us at the drop of a button but rather we are presented with opportunities that seem to try our patience and it is up to us to turn to the Lord and to follow His examples of charity, patience and sympathy.

Knowing this, I wasted countless opportunities this past week, opportunities to love; opportunities to be patient and humble.  I found myself getting super irritated at a co-worker who I believed was emailing me too much asking for follow-up on certain tasks and issues we were working on.  By the 5th email I was ready to blow and blow up I did.  I went for a walk around the campus and my friend and walking buddy got to hear a never-ending venting session.  Afterward it was as if blindfolds were taken off of my eyes, I realized that all these emails I found irritating were opportunities to be patient, to turn to Christ and ask Him to help me respond to this person with love.  Right away I knew that I had to go to confession and thankfully I was able to receive the sacrament of reconciliation before evening mass.  I have made the strong resolve to not give in to my anger and to rely on Christ in my moments of anger.

As I do every day and every week I have made the resolve to slow down and take the time to recognize and appreciate opportunities to grow in the virtues rater than flying off the handle when I find myself getting too irritated.  I have started by reciting the face prayer by Jim Pinto Jr. and it is a wondeful reminder to me of my responsibility as a lover of Christ.  I have included it below, I hope you find it as much of an inspiration to your day as I have found it to be to mine.

In Christ, our Love

Hopeful

Face Prayer

Heavenly Father, I embrace your grace this day,
So that I might not:
Think of another,
Speak to another or
Touch another,
without first looking for
Your Face in the other.
I ask all this through
Jesus Christ:
God Incarnate,
God with Skin,
God made Poor,
God with a Face. Amen!
 Jim Pinto, Jr.

Perfect Love

In St. Teresa’s The way of Perfection, she lays the foundation for her sisters in order that they may become better nuns. At the heart of this foundation are three things, the first of which is love for each other. She goes on to warn the sisters however that it is important to love each other equally so that the focus of the sisters’ relationship with each other does not become each other but the Lord.

In thinking about this simple command from this wise saint, I realize exactly what the Lord meant when He commanded those around Him to love each other. Jesus commanded His disciples to love each other so that hate could be eroded, so that there would not be room for any conflict among His followers. This love that St. Teresa refers to is the same love the Christ commanded his followers to practice and the same love that St. Paul listed as the greatest of all the virtues. For when we love each other equally, there is no room for alliances to develop and no room for one’s affection for another to lead to choosing sides and growing resentment towards those who might offend our friends. St. Teresa wisely points out that this kind of love applies not just among her nuns but also among siblings. She notes that even among brothers and sisters, such a love can be poisonous with no advantage.

Being one of four, I can definitely see the negative effect of such a love. Often times, I find myself siding with a favored sibling over another and blindly resenting one sibling over a perceived wrong to another. This blind love that is focused on the object of our love rather than the Lord is what St. Teresa speaks against. We are called to love one another deeply and equally. However, we must be conscious to assure that this deep love for one another is in line with, rather than in contradiction to, Christ’s love for us and our Love for him. In other words any love that drives us to commit evil or hateful acts towards another person is not true love. Christ loved all of us and this love led him to the cross; in his perfect way of loving He even forgave His persecutors. St. Teresa is calling us to that perfect love, a love that sees beyond any hurt and offenses.

Let us resolve to love each other perfectly, to make God the focus of all of our relationships. I pray dear readers that we continue to grow in this love more and more everyday and I ask you to pray for me that I too may continue to grow in perfect love.

Pax,
Hopeful