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Mothering Trains Our Hearts
"When an old monk was asked how he could bear the noise of some shepherd boys near him, he answered: "I was at first inclined to say something to them; but I thought better of it, and said to myself, "If I cannot endure so little as this, how shall I endure greater trials when they come to me?"
"St. Francis Xavier acted in the same way on occasion, and said that we must not deceive ourselves; for whoever does not conquer himself in trifles, will not be able to do so in greater matters."
Trans from Italian by A Member of the Order of Mercy, in "A Year With the Saints", Illinois, Tan Books & Publishers, 1988, p72-73
posted by Holly at 1:53 PM
1 Comments:
When my children are all goofing around and being noisy, or when they are cleaning up after supper, the din in our house is unbelievable! The onslaught of noise is like a thousand bumblebees buzzing around in my head. It doesn't feel very much like a 'trifle'! And perhaps too often I let out a holler - "Keep it QUIET!!!!" Not the best of examples, for sure...
Hhmmm. But really, the little things that can annoy us in our daily home life are trifles compared to what some people are going through around the world, eh? There is so much sickness and suffering; so many wars and worry; such poverty and destitution; crime and abuse and.... We could make a very long list.
So perhaps for Advent, I can make a little resolution: To exercise more patience with the little unimportant things that I usually tend to get annoyed with - a sink not wiped out well; dirty clothes on the bathroom floor when I come upstairs to bed; the dried up muffin behind the couch...
But here I can remember a solid Catholic principle - it is easier to focus on doing something good instead of trying to merely avoid something bad. So, maybe for Advent, I can decide to make those little annoyances count for something - I can wipe out that sink myself tonight and offer it for souls, or I can pick up those bathroom clothes and say a prayer for my children. I can pick up that muffin and say "All for love of you Jesus - what, you didn't like your muffin??" :-)
Turning the annoying into the redemptive, the reparative, the prayerful intercession for others... into a small but powerful act of love for God.
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