A post-Irma reflection

Monday, September 18, 2017

*Antonio Fernandez - Our Lady of Guadalupe Church

English Spanish

I am seated in my recliner in the den of my house, doing nothing at the moment.

I look out the window nearest to me, at the golf course behind our house, and I contemplate the calm, the sun, the blue sky, the swaying trees in the background. I think about yesterday and those anxious hours. What a difference!

I meditate on how little we appreciate the many months and even years when we are not threatened by a hurricane. And how, on the one hand, a few hours of threat, of insecurity, of danger, no matter how brief, cause us perturbation and make us lose control. And on the other hand, good times, peace, the brotherly handshake of a friend or neighbor, the caress or kiss of a family member or loved one, health, security: We take all those for granted, hardly noticing how many good things we have and enjoy most of the time.

When something bad comes our way, we pray, we do novenas, we engage in pious exercises. But when calm returns and the danger passes, we are incapable of even giving thanks for having overcome the trials.

May the good weather we enjoy today teach us to take advantage, to enjoy, but above all, to thank God for those imperceptible caresses He constantly gives us.

Comments from readers

Cheryl Whapham - 09/22/2017 11:07 AM

Thank you for this important reminder Antonio! May we turn to the Lord in strife and in thanksgiving!

James - 09/18/2017 08:04 PM

Thank you Antonio Fernandez of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. It takes real exercise to pray not only in bad times, but to be thankful in good times also. In Unity and faith,

Efrain Coronado - 09/18/2017 05:52 PM

The word that comes to mind after reading this blog is "mortality". I too was looking up at the beautiful blue skies twenty four hours after hurricane Irma. It is easy to get complacent with life, with all of life! I have reflected on my need to keep alive and enkindled my awareness of my mortality. I do not say this with a negative connotation nor am I suggesting with should live with a gloomy and apologetics attitude. But totally the opposite; it is through having a worldview rooted in the sense our own mortality that can harvest a fertile ground in which the supernatural virtue of hope can grow and blossom. It is precisely an attitude mortality that can open our lives to greatness, excellence, and joy. I think this is so because the sense of mortality is the anctidote to pride. I too was was concerned and experienced a degree of anxiety as hurricane Irma approached, but instead of dispair God has planted in my heart a sense of mortality; precisely for that, precisely to allow me to open more my eyes and ears to him, but more importantly, to open my heart and my will to His, both in the bright and dark days of my life...

Cheryl Whapham - 09/22/2017 11:07 AM: Thank you for this important reminder Antonio! May we turn to the Lord in strife and in thanksgiving!

James - 09/18/2017 08:04 PM: Thank you Antonio Fernandez of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. It takes real exercise to pray not only in bad times, but to be thankful in good times also. In Unity and faith,

Efrain Coronado - 09/18/2017 05:52 PM: The word that comes to mind after reading this blog is "mortality". I too was looking up at the beautiful blue skies twenty four hours after hurricane Irma. It is easy to get complacent with life, with all of life! I have reflected on my need to keep alive and enkindled my awareness of my mortality. I do not say this with a negative connotation nor am I suggesting with should live with a gloomy and apologetics attitude. But totally the opposite; it is through having a worldview rooted in the sense our own mortality that can harvest a fertile ground in which the supernatural virtue of hope can grow and blossom. It is precisely an attitude mortality that can open our lives to greatness, excellence, and joy. I think this is so because the sense of mortality is the anctidote to pride. I too was was concerned and experienced a degree of anxiety as hurricane Irma approached, but instead of dispair God has planted in my heart a sense of mortality; precisely for that, precisely to allow me to open more my eyes and ears to him, but more importantly, to open my heart and my will to His, both in the bright and dark days of my life...