Tempered by the Fruit of the Spirit...

I've had quite a lesson this weekend. Yesterday I was very tired after cleaning Mum's old flat, and consequently feeling rather grumpy (tiredness and grumpiness often go hand-in-hand with me!) As a result, when I went to see Mum in the afternoon, I found myself being rather short with her on occasion, not realising this until my daughter (God bless her!) pulled me up about it afterwards by saying "I thought you were a bit bossy with Grandma today". As soon as she said it, I looked back and realised that all my responses had been wrong... 

It made me realise that it doesn't matter how I'm feeling, whether grumpy, tired, out-of-sorts, the important thing is how I treat other people. With a little effort and a lot of the Holy Spirit, I could have been more pleasant, patient, forgiving, accomodating, compassionate and understanding. If I look at the Fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance I can see immediately what was missing! This morning, before Mass, I repented before God of my careless and clumsy attitude, and when I visited Mum afterwards, apologised to her. She then said she hadn't noticed, and just thought I seemed tired, as I was doing more than one person should have to! So I am grateful for a) my daughter's honesty in highlighting my faults, and b) my Mother's understanding of them!

I remember being struck greatly by St. Therese's words in her autobiography, when she tells of a Sister in Carmel who really irritated her and rubbed her up the wrong way. Instead of responding in kind, St. Therese went out of her way to show this person as much love as she possibly could, causing the offending Sister to proclaim "Dear Therese, you must love me very much, you are always so kind to me!" I would do well to follow her example...