The liturgical year coming to an end. The readings remind us of the preparation we need to endure to be ready for the Lord and the Kingdom! Yes ideally, we would we attending church and meeting community of catholics and working hard towards prepping for advent and christmas! But this year is different, life has not been the same ever since, from social distancing to wearing masks and gloves, donning and doffing a PPE.
The entire social behaviour of my life style changed, from unable to greet people I love with hugs and kisses to being unable to travel home from a place I was absolutely new to. I broke down ONCE ! and then made up my mind , I had to learn to adjust , so while I made more friends and acquaintances and learned to work with and through restrictions I focused so much on finding human interaction , I did lose some of my interaction with the Lord Almighty.
But the super woman came to my rescue ” Mother Mary” and her 54 day novena ( not the ideal way of praying ) got me to channel my life and push out all the doubts I had!! Personal and professional. But as I grew in faith and positivity, I did notice how negative everyone around me was getting, the toll of being away from family, constantly working and disliking it and above all not having the community and faith I have as a catholic, was making many around me act cranky, rant about the inadequacies of life and work.. .. some even took to social media to express hate about something I did that was not liked !
when your enemies will raise a palisade against you;
they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides.
They will smash you to the ground and your children within you,
and they will not leave one stone upon another within you
because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
This was it! The enemy .. the NEGATIVE MINDSET! It was gathering around me at work and personal life and making me question my own faith, making me anxious and extremely unhappy. I looked forward to my weekly community virtual gatherings of catholic youth where I express my concerns and realise it is a common issue!! I recognise the time of visitation and I am working every day to try and push myself closer to God.. by appreciating the fact that I am alive and COVID 19 negative despite my work, I can and am able to financially support myself and enjoy my work on a daily basis and have the most loving family and friends back home who make me feel like I never left my home!!Somedays are harder to appreciate the good but I do try, I thank God for every patient healed and situation sorted while some days I ask for strength to get through the day!
Today, I request and ask every one of you who read this reflection to take 5 minutes and think over the day and realise how seamlessly the events have occurred and if they have not in accordance to your way or will, pray for the strength to face the consequences!! This lockdown has dogged down many of us with personal loss, financial instability and throwing us off base with life in general but yet , you are here reading this !! Let us start seeing the minor wins everyday of our lifes and BE POSITIVE!!
PRAYER:
I thank your Lord for this beautiful day , the people I meet at work and home. Help and guide me Lord to navigate my day with an eye for the positive events, Forgive those who are unable to do so and bless them with the grace!! Bless everyone who I meet today!
AMEN.
