Great Message from the Friars

  • Thread starter Thread starter debraran
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
D

debraran

Guest
From The Friars eLetter
Letters of hope and consolation #19

Posted: 07 Jan 2013 06:21 PM PST

Quite honestly it seems that what you really want, what you think would take away all of your problems is somebody else’s life because the one you already have doesn’t appear good enough for you. You are always speaking about somebody else’s job, somebody else’s family, somebody else’s house, a different style of clothes, a different climate and a constant surplus of new friends who can pull you out of these funks and make life once again fresh and exciting.

What about your life, your job, your family, your friends, etc? What about all the blessings and opportunities that are already a part of your life? Instead of constantly desiring other things maybe you should begin by thanking God for what you already have, which, if you took time to consider, would realize is actually a great deal. The problem is you are always admiring other people and the happiness you think they have and never realize all the great blessings God has already given to you.

The moment you begin to be grateful for what is already yours it is as if a new world appears, or rather the fog from your current world disappears and you are able once again to see the freshness and excitement of life that has always been present to you in your life. You do not need somebody else’s life to be happy. God has already given you all the ingredients you need for a happy and fulfilling life, if only you can open your eyes to all that is before you.

God bless you,
Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock, CFR
St. Felix Friary, Yonkers, NY
 
I love it!

Thank you for posting.

Especially the part about being grateful for what we already have; when I learned that, it was approximately the time I found the kingdom.

Alan
 
I remember a kind priest telling me when bemoaning my husband wasn’t like another, first you really never know what someone is like in their home (very true) and if I spent the time trying to make better my situation and being grateful for my gifts, instead of pressing nose against the candy store window, things would get better.
He was right, as I matured, I envied very few people, I saw the good and bad in others and realized more and more, the gifts I had received.

It never hurts to be reminded.
 
Wonderful message Fr. The older I get (late sixties) the more I realize that Gods gift of life, no matter how difficult, is so precious. Once we have been created we will exist forever. This is something we must never forget as we toil, are tempted, challenged,and are hurt.I think of this life as a “boot camp”, a period of time to pass or fail in our challenge between good and evil. Those of us that have been given the gift of “understanding” must never give up the fight against evil. The closer I am to God, by prayer, acceptance, love, faith, communication, and thought, the stronger I feel as I fight off the evil that is always trying to destroy me. I have found that two words have fully expressed my way of surviving the world I live in. I try to think and do these two things in my life when I make decisions. It keeps it simple and instantly points me in the right direction. Those two words are “GIVE and FORGIVE”. What could be more simple. These words condense and quickly cover all that we must do with our lives. These words came to me once when I was kneeling by my bed praying and just thinking as I was contemplating my life with God. HE also told me , numerous times, to write, just write what I know, believe, and think. I then came across this sight and I read and think, I respond. It is a wonderful feeling to express my inner thoughts. I hope it helps others, I don’t know if I am correct or not! I’m just realizing my mortality, more and more, and I think of death often, it makes living a good life more understood. Peace and Gods love remain with you Fr. and please pray for me.
 
jimperu said:
Wonderful message Fr. The older I get (late sixties) the more I realize that Gods gift of life, no matter how difficult, is so precious. Once we have been created we will exist forever. This is something we must never forget as we toil, are tempted, challenged,and are hurt.I think of this life as a “boot camp”, a period of time to pass or fail in our challenge between good and evil. Those of us that have been given the gift of “understanding” must never give up the fight against evil. The closer I am to God, by prayer, acceptance, love, faith, communication, and thought, the stronger I feel as I fight off the evil that is always trying to destroy me. I have found that two words have fully expressed my way of surviving the world I live in. I try to think and do these two things in my life when I make decisions. It keeps it simple and instantly points me in the right direction. Those two words are “GIVE and FORGIVE”. What could be more simple. These words condense and quickly cover all that we must do with our lives. These words came to me once when I was kneeling by my bed praying and just thinking as I was contemplating my life with God. HE also told me , numerous times, to write, just write what I know, believe, and think. I then came across this sight and I read and think, I respond. It is a wonderful feeling to express my inner thoughts. I hope it helps others, I don’t know if I am correct or not! I’m just realizing my mortality, more and more, and I think of death often, it makes living a good life more understood. Peace and Gods love remain with you Fr. and please pray for me.
Click to expand...
I need prayer also since I also am in my sixties and have most of my life wishing I were not me but rather someone else or had someone else’s life, or things, or looks, or intelligence, or cleverness, etc. It is especially difficult now when I am unable to secure a job for myself after not having had a well-paying job for almost 5 years and having been involved in an auto accident which wasn’t my fault and totally ruined the only new car I’ve ever had, dislocated my left shoulder, broke a rib and punctured a lung. Also I can’t get any direction of what I’m to do with the rest of my life!
 
LegoGE1947 said:
I need prayer also since I also am in my sixties and have most of my life wishing I were not me but rather someone else or had someone else’s life, or things, or looks, or intelligence, or cleverness, etc. It is especially difficult now when I am unable to secure a job for myself after not having had a well-paying job for almost 5 years and having been involved in an auto accident which wasn’t my fault and totally ruined the only new car I’ve ever had, dislocated my left shoulder, broke a rib and punctured a lung. Also I can’t get any direction of what I’m to do with the rest of my life!
Click to expand...
 
40.png
jimperu:
LEGO, Do not look at yesterday, it is behind you. Do not look for tomorrow, it may not come. Today be grateful for every little thing you have. Think of the millions of poor souls throughtout this world much worse off than you. Pray, go assist others less fortunate, find a simple life with simple things. FORGET material things, do not care about things like cars. Care about your soul and end of life, have faith in God and enjoy His gift of life now.
God Bless
 
I am concerned about all the legal fuss this accident is causing even when it wasn’t my fault. Concerned about money because I have bills that only having the money to pay them will fix. Concerned about tomorrow because it WILL come. Yesterday because one of those “yesterdays” was the day I was hit broadside by some young woman who was disgregarding the speed limit, traffic signals, and probably how much alcohol she had consumed earlier in the day. I am concerned for people who have life less well than I in that I volunteer at a radio station where volunteers read to the blind or sight-impaired. I am also working part-time at our local State employment service office helping people search for employment online. But because that job is a Senior Work Program, it will end January 29, 2013 because my contract is up on that day with the local Agency on Aging.
 
LegoGE1947 said:
I am concerned about all the legal fuss this accident is causing even when it wasn’t my fault. Concerned about money because I have bills that only having the money to pay them will fix. Concerned about tomorrow because it WILL come. Yesterday because one of those “yesterdays” was the day I was hit broadside by some young woman who was disgregarding the speed limit, traffic signals, and probably how much alcohol she had consumed earlier in the day. I am concerned for people who have life less well than I in that I volunteer at a radio station where volunteers read to the blind or sight-impaired. I am also working part-time at our local State employment service office helping people search for employment online. But because that job is a Senior Work Program, it will end January 29, 2013 because my contract is up on that day with the local Agency on Aging.
Click to expand...
 
40.png
jimperu:
I do care about my soul and end of life. But these other things seem to get in the way. (That’s a little extra)😊
 
Lego, I am just trying to help comfort you and I was just thinking of things that were said and done that seemed to help me during difficult times. I can understand that all the stressful complexities of this accident are painful. I hope and pray for you to have everything settled with concern to your accident and that you find permanent work. Your reading to the blind is to be commended. Peace
 
jimperu said:
Lego, I am just trying to help comfort you and I was just thinking of things that were said and done that seemed to help me during difficult times. I can understand that all the stressful complexities of this accident are painful. I hope and pray for you to have everything settled with concern to your accident and that you find permanent work. Your reading to the blind is to be commended. Peace
Click to expand...
Actually, aside from daily Mass, the volunteering to read to the blind is the high point of my week. As a child I dreamed of being on the radio and this in a way helps fulfill that dream even though I don’t get any pay for it and the radio station is a sub-carrier of the local NPR station and you can only hear it on specially equipped radios that the station loans to people who express need of them.
 
You know it’s ironic how, despite being a picky eater, the strongest reminders of my own good fortune come from eating good food (something I just did right now). Thank God for my meals that’s for sure! :o

Still, I think it also pays to sympathize with what people have to do to maintain their current lifestyles. I wouldn’t want to exchange my life with those poorer than me but can you blame me if stabilizing my income demands that I pull more weight so I could reach someone else’s level?
 
Lost_Wanderer said:
You know it’s ironic how, despite being a picky eater, the strongest reminders of my own good fortune come from eating good food (something I just did right now). Thank God for my meals that’s for sure! :o
Click to expand...
I don’t see that as anything to be embarrassed about. Being grateful for the food you just received is a perfectly good example. It’s the small things. I thank the Lord I have a shelter, and when I wash my hands, a place to do that with running water. It seems like magic that almost every minute we do something, we exemplify the properties of something that was a gift.
Still, I think it also pays to sympathize with what people have to do to maintain their current lifestyles. I wouldn’t want to exchange my life with those poorer than me but can you blame me if stabilizing my income demands that I pull more weight so I could reach someone else’s level?
Click to expand...
It doesn’t sound bad to me, but I’m not sure what you mean by “pull more weight.” If you mean step up your game, working harder and/or smarter get more income, then you can be just as thankful you have the ability to do that as you are for the things you already have. 🙂

And yes there are those worse off than we are, which is one of the reasons we are this thankful. They have their journey, and we have theirs. If we can build ourselves up, then we can bless them with our excess; meanwhile we are thankful along the way for every gain. Really we can be thankful for “losses,” too, but that’s more complicated. 😉

Alan
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top