There will be Justice in this country, the United States of America, when no citizen is discriminated against when it comes to housing, education, employment, healthcare, marriage, or law enforcement. I can legally be kicked out of my apartment/house irregardless of whether I can afford the rent/mortgage or not just because of someones religious convictions. A person can refuse to hire me or even interview me simply because of my transgendered, disabled, or bisexual status. I can be kicked out of school irregardless of whether I break any rules or not or whether I can afford the tuition or not. A doctor can refuse to help me, prescribe medicine that I desperately need, or even treat me for a life threatening condition because of their religious convictions. I am not, legally, allowed to marry a male or a female in this country. And when anything bad happens to me, most law officers refuse to do anything about it and say its my fault it happened and when I report it to the higher-ups in law enforcement and nothing is done. I have no justice or equal rights in this country, I am treated like trash in this country.
Maria, your concerns and many and serious. I, and I am sure many others who read here, will keep you in our prayers.
Regardless of how individuals relate to you, there is ONE PERSON who never stops loving you UNCONDITIONALLY, and that is God. We know that that Jesus Christ is the Living Son of God, perfect in every way. Although He suffered terribily at the hands of the unjust, He continued to do His Father’s Will and reaped the greatest reward for us. As Catholics we are to be Christ like as best we can even knowing that we are imperfect, even as others cause us to suffer. That can be very hard, but with Christ on our side, we will reap the great reward.
It may be very hard to pray when we are in pain from others’ reaction to us. The shortest, most powerful prayer I know is
JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU.
Say this prayer as often as you can.
In due time, Jesus will give you more strength to deal with your fears and difficulties.
On a practical level, one of life’s great lessons is learning that I cannot change others or the world. I can only change how I deal with it all. I can chose to fight them on every issue every time or I can pick and chose my fights. Some transgressions I can ignore. Although some, perhaps more than a few, are against me, I know that the whole world is not against me. I can find those who will relate to me on a more positive level.
I know that how individuals treat me can cause me to react in certain ways. It is also true that how I treat others can cause them to react in certain ways.
When I was a teen, I caddied at the country club. One member was thought to be mean to caddies. I was assigned. He started yelling at me before I picked up his bag and continued to yell at me for the18 holes. I kept cool and did my best. Next time he started yelling at me after his second shot and continued. I kept cool and did my best. The third time we came down the 18th hole and he was talking nicely with me as if I was his best friend. A couple of weeks later, as our friendship increased I asked why he was mean to the other caddies but not me. He said he eventually he realized I was not being mean to him so he realized he should not be mean to me.
I was the poor kid who hitched hiked to the country club. He was the rich business man with the Lincoln. I won his respect and friendship because I tolerated his boorish behavior and acted with dignity long enough for him to realize I was worthy of respect. I eventually reaped what I sowed with him.
It does take time. We build mutual respect one person at a time.
JESUS, I TRUST IN YOU.
