Sometimes we get depressed because we have made mistakes in our dealings with others.  In Christ’s life, any errors he made were corrected by the Father.

Take for example our concept of his saying about eating the body and blood of Christ.  This was corrected when at the Last Supper he took bread and wine and said this was his body and blood.  Our negative picture of what this meant was changed and elevated, and it is today the highpoint of the Mass.

Our heavenly father treats us in like manner.  Of course, we are seldom aware of it, for His ways are secret, even to us.  Let’s follow, nevertheless, and learn to take our own faults with good humor, and if we can’t correct them, at least we’ll put up with them, and be at peace.

Christ suffered to the extent that he hated his life in this world.  But St. Francis refused to take this temporary situation seriously and brought out the joy of living.  Christ seemed enthralled by his joy in the gift of life and rewarded him with the following that made his reputation.

St. Francis would not become gloomy or morose no matter the adversity, and this pleased God the Father and the people who heard him speak.  O Lord, that I too may hear words of such joy.  A happy life gets a good reward thanks to what Christ gave, a real abundance despite his temporary dismay.

Thanks, Lord, for all you have done for us.

One of the great philosophers of the Twentieth Century was the Jesuit Teilhard de Chardin.  He was very optimistic. He believed that mankind would not destroy itself, but work toward a stage of unity he called the Omega point, and that we were working toward that now.

To those who believe as he did in a Creator (Soul of the Universe) this does not seem preposterous.  As a matter of fact, it’s downright sensible.  If enough people pray for its accomplishment, why not?

We have our apartment cleaned every two weeks by a team of three cleaning ladies.  Today they came right after a big water spill, and I asked if one of them would clean it up for me, as my arthritis acts up.  The one who volunteered got an extra tip.

I think the Lord gives us an extra gift for extraordinary behavior, though it comes so subtly we never notice.   It all happens so naturally, we don’t recognize it as a gift.  That’s the way of the Lord.

Of course, you can never outdo the Lord.  I mean every breath on a crisp morning is a gift, and then there’s so much else. 

We have a filter for our air-conditioning unit (a small one) and the other day I decided to clean it.  First use the broken hand vacuum cleaner (it works if you hold it together with one hand) and then the community hose or the bathtub.

It’s amazing, the amount of dust that accumulates in a few months on this filter.  The microscopic world around us is almost a universe by itself.  And then there’s the invisible Quantum world of electrons and atoms.  Who made all these parts for our wonder?

If you don’t believe there’s a maker, you’re missing something—either an aspect or a brain apse, and you’d better replace it before doomsday.  China is preparing one.