I Have the Right to Complain?

"You have no right to complain because I..."

I'm a selfish person. I always used to think I was rather selfless, but as I have come to know God more, and come to know more about myself through God, I've realized how selfish of a person I am. I tend to whine and complain a lot. For example, this morning when I woke up there was no coffee that I liked in our house, only really black coffee, which I don't like. Because there was no coffee, and no normal coffee makers, only a keurig, I grew flustered because I just wanted my morning cup o' joe. Instead of being content and thankful with what I had, I was angry. It's easy for us to think of ourselves.

What struck this thought this night - Wednesday night I was woke by my friend, long story short we ended up calling 911 and going to the ER around 2 am,  I had to work at 9 am. I didn't think about it at the time. However, at work Thursday morning, someone complained they were tired and I thought to myself  'ughh they have no right to complain, they got a sufficient amount of sleep, uninterrupted by a trip to the hospital'. Now don't get me wrong, I was very thankful to have been able to be present for my friend and be with her and be there for her when she needed me; however, the next morning I was feeling the effects a little differently. The person who had complained she was tired at work had work about 15 days straight - and some of them really awful shifts. She basically had every right to complain, but all I could think of in that moment was myself.

Sometimes, it is easy to think of others. Most of the time, it is easier to think of ourselves. It is easy to be consumed by our own wants, desires, feelings, etc. In reality, I don't have the 'right' to complain, and neither do you. Our lives on earth are not meant to be lives of ease. There will be great suffering in the time we will spend on earth, in order to prepare our hearts for heaven. We are imperfect beings, though we may be striving for holiness (the perfection of charity), we will always fall short of the glory of God and loving perfectly until we enter our home in heaven.

However, there is hope! There is hope in Christ. This night Christ has risen from the tomb. Our God is alive, He reigns.

There is hope in the Lord for us to overcome our selfishness. Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of sacrifice. Mary is the other perfect example for us to follow. Jesus - the perfect example of love, in laying down his life, that we may be able to enter the eternal Kingdom. He died, and rose to fill the void between God and man. Mary - who proclaimed "be it done unto me according to Thy word" She gave her yes to the Father, knowing she was saying yes to living a life of sacrifice, of selflessness. She is one whom we can turn to, and seek her intercession that we may grow out of selfishness, and draw closer into the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Brothers and sisters, hope in the resurrection. In this Easter season may we rejoice in the gift of salvation; may we find hope in Christ.

Alleluia, the King has risen.
Happy Easter!
God bless.

Our Lady of Peace, Pray for us.

There has been so much stress in my life lately. I have a job. I'm moving out in 2 days. Two of my closest friends are leaving for ministry in 2 days and I won't see them until December. I'm trying to figure out all this loan stuff and paying for school. My car is in the shop, I'm driving my mom's car, and my mom has a rental - which is just really annoying. My room looks kind of like a tornado ran through it. I won't be home all day tomorrow until Thursday morning, which is the day I leave, so I need to finish packing tonight. And that's not even all of it.

This morning it took all I had to get out of bed, it took all I had in me to hold myself together. Then I remembered something a friend told me once. "The sooner we accept the fact that we are imperfect the sooner we will be at peace. It's Christ who is strong, not us." Thus I paused for a moment. Actually, I was driving to Walmart, but I started thinking about all the stress I was feeling - I was feeling stressed when I couldn't find anything to listen to on the radio, which is what sent up a red flag. Therefore, I turned off the radio and pulled out a rosary. I prayed my rosary - the sorrowful mysteries are today - and asked for graces and peace in this stressful time. During the fourth mystery I prayed for the graces to carry my cross, with the help of God, and for the graces to not try carrying it on my own, but to carry it with the help God is offering me. I prayed for the graces to remember that I am his weak little lamb, and he will carry me. It is Christ who is strong, not me. When I finished that rosary, I was more at peace. I was able to be calm.

This is not the first time something like this has happened. Our Lady, Mary, Queen of heaven & earth will always give us the graces we need. Our lady is truly a Queen of Peace. She sees we need her help, and automatically comes to our aid.

May we always come to Mary, our Mother and our Queen. I also believe we should look to her as our Lady of Consolation as well as our Lady of Peace because they are so closely linked.

Our Lady of Consolation, Pray for us!
Our Lady of Peace, Pray for us!

Our Lady of Consolation, Pray for us!

Monday and Tuesday of this week I had the pleasure of going to Cedar Point and to a shrine honoring Mary, Our Lady of Consolation. It was such a beautiful trip because on Monday we were crazy and had fun riding roller coasters and hanging out, but there was just constant noise between the number of people, music, and of course ROLLER COASTERS!!!! And then Tuesday was quiet. We celebrated the mass, had lunch, had an hour of quiet reflection to just wander about the shrine & it's accompanying park, and closed with an hour of Eucharistic adoration. Such a beautiful day. For our Holy hour, our youth minister, Dan DeMatte, gave a brief reflection on our Lady. He talked about how we tend to seek comfort and consolation in this world. A few examples in my life -

When I'm feeling down in the dumps I will eat chocolate, potato chips, candy, ice cream, etc. - thinking it will comfort me.
When I'm feeling exhausted I will sit in front of the television and watch a pointless, meaningless movie - think it will console me
When my body is really sore from 3 hours of sand volleyball, after being at camp for a week and going to Cedar Point - I just want to lounge and do nothing productive what so ever - which falls into aimlessly staring at the television or sleeping for a ridiculous amount of time.
I'm positive there are many other examples in every person's life, these are just a few to help get my point across.
Something Dan told us to do was rather than seeking our comfort and consolation in food or television or the internet/computer we should seek consolation and comfort from Mary.
Mary is our mother. She loves us as her own children. She desires for us to be peaceful, calm, and rested; capable to serve the Kingdom. If we seek her out when we're feeling neglected in our group of friends instead of stewing in our anger, we will be 1. more pleasing to God 2. feel 1000x better than if we stewed in our anger or sought consolation in food/television/computer.

Therefore, I encourage you to seek out our Lady. Mary desires to pour out graces on our souls. She desires to love us as the children we are. Next time you are in need of comfort and consolation turn Mary, our queen and our Mother. You can say a Hail Mary, or simply say Our Lady of Consolation, pray for us. Call on Mary, and you will receive grace!

Mary, Our Lady of Consolation, Pray for us!