Today is the Feast Day of St. Clare of Assisi and here is Mission Santa Clara de Asís in Santa Clara, California.
I was at Daily Mass the other day and I was inundated with negative thoughts.
First, I started stressing about the state of our country.
Then, I started stressing about a personal issue.
Next, it was a bunch of negative news I’d briefly read about.
Just on and on and on.
Each time I was feeling overwhelmed by these thoughts, I’d tell myself, “Enough! Focus on the Mass!”
For a bit, I could, but then…the negative thoughts would flood my mind again.
Afterwards, frustrated by the inundation of negativity and worry, I thought about what I experienced.
I realized two things:
One, I have an expectation that things will be perfect in this life and when they aren’t exactly perfect, I rarely rise to the occasion. Instead, I grumble and gripe and forget to notice ALL the things going right.
Two, if you are not close to Christ, the devil keeps you focused on pleasure and temporary, flitting happiness. When you are trying to foster your relationship with Christ, the devil tries to keep you focused on all the bad so as to steal your joy and make you doubt that God is in control.
It’s not that we shouldn’t be aware of bad things happening, we should, but we can’t let those things consume us. If you follow someone on social media that consistently points out all the bad in our country or in the Catholic Church, be wary.
All that negativity will steal your joy and you’ll feel all is hopeless.
Nothing will be perfect in this life, we will have to struggle against injustice and darkness, we will have to pick up our crosses to follow Jesus, Catholic Pilgrims.
But, if we let all these things steal our joy and hope; if they rob us of gratitude for all the good around us, we will only add to the problem, not help it.
I pray you have a blessed day, Catholic Pilgrims.
Live the Faith boldly and travel well.
St. Clare, pray for us.
