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Surrender to new life in Christ
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By Mary Regina Morrell
Catholic Online
"Remember not the events of the past, the things of long ago consider not; see, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? In the desert I make a way, in the wasteland, rivers." Isaiah 43:18-19
For me, the transition from Christmas to ordinary time is a slow one, due in large part to my dragging my feet in packing and putting away all our Christmas decorations. Even today a visitor would see bags of garland sitting at the bottom of the stairs waiting to be taken to the attic, as well as a number of stray Christmas gifts piled on a table in the family room. My tardiness is emphasized even more by those anxious folks who have had Valentine hearts blinking in their windows since the middle of January.
In truth, in spite of my usual slow retreat from Christmas, Valentines Day has become an almost overlooked holiday in my home. It just hasn't been the same since my father died several years ago on February 15.
The memory of walking numbly through the drug store across the street from the hospital and picking our heart shaped boxes of candy for my sons is still painful. Even more so is the image of them sitting at my dad's kitchen table opening their Valentine gifts with barely a smile.
There have been no red hearts in my windows since then.
At some point in time, we will all have these experiences in our lives, the moments we all face, when life deals us a blow for which we are not prepared, and suddenly our littleness becomes so apparent that it is frightening. These are the times when we are reminded in no uncertain terms that we are not in control, that we are vulnerable, that we hurt.
It is in these moments that we often strike out in anger, at God, at ourselves, or at others.
But in these moments lay, also, the opportunities for allowing our God to lift us lovingly from our knees and discourage us from building around our hearts the weighty, impenetrable walls of anger that may hold us to the ground forever.
The fruits of our choice will be evident in either a life that is eventually healed and made whole, or a spirit that is forever wounded, perhaps ultimately, and unfortunately, wounding someone else as well. It is not easy to rise from grief or woundedness or the anger that often ensues, but, in reality, we are the ones who suffer if we do not.
Perhaps no author has expressed the insidious consequences of anger horded than Frederick Buechner. His chilling warning of such suffering is hard to ignore: "Of the Seven Deadly Sins, anger is possibly the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past, to roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontations still to come, to savor to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you are given and the pain you are giving back -- in many ways it is a feast fit for a king. The chief drawback is that what you are wolfing down is yourself. The skeleton at the feast is you."
Jesus has shown us that, as disciples, it shouldn't be this way, not does it have to be this way. His life, death and resurrection are moments of suffering and grace in which we share and by which we are redeemed. Through him we are led to a resurrection from all that is dead within us, if we would only surrender our burdens to him as he asked.
His invitation is to a real feast fit for a King, and we can be sure there are no dry, lifeless bones at God's banquet.
____________________
Mary Morrell is mother of six sons, author of Angels in High Top Sneakers from Loyola Press and syndicated columnist.
Contact
Diocese of Metuchen
http://www.diometuchen.org
NJ, US
Mary Regina Morrell - Associate Director, Office of Religious Educationp, 732 562.1990
mmorrell@diometuchen.org
Keywords
surrender, Valentine's Day, anger
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