Feeling down?

By -

 


I had the opportunity recently to watch the Detroit Tigers play baseball at Comerica Park in Detroit. Years ago we started making an annual pilgrimage for our son's birthday.

This year, not much was happening until about the 8th or 9th inning, and then the game got super exciting with the Tigers pulling off a win over Kansas City in the 11th inning.

Every year we check the weather beforehand because one year we had to wait out a downpour in a hot and very muggy bathroom.  We vowed never to do that again!

One year we waited out a downpour on the covered mezzanine (because of our vow to never wait out a storm in the bathroom again). We were well-prepared with our ponchos, but we were all surprised when the wind took down the pop machine we were standing next to with a loud bang!  Lucky for us, we were protected from it by a little chain fence.

This year it was dry and sunny, but my family mentioned that they saw quite a few people leave the game early because it looked like there was no hope of winning; those of us who waited it out saw an amazing few innings.

Life can be like that, if you happen to be on hard times. It might seem like there is no coming back from where you are at this moment. Maybe you are down on your luck because of choices you've made, or maybe it just seems like no matter how hard you try, you can't dig yourself out of a hole.

Don't despair. Change is just around the corner. The rain will stop. The sun will come out. Life can get better. How it looks today, if you are in the 7th inning, is not the end of the story.

It is amazing to discover how much better things can get if you hang in there. So today, I encourage you to do just that, and if you happen to know someone who is struggling, share this with them as well.

Sometimes it takes 11 innings for things to turn around, but if you make an early exit, you will surely miss the good things to come. 

Never give up. You have a God who loves you, who will never give up on you. Trust him with your life.

Janet Cassidy


Email me at:  jmctm2@gmail.com

janetcassidy.com
https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsinfaith/
https://www.youtube.com/@janetcassidy




 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SAINT ELIZABETH, MOTHER OF JOHN THE BAPTIST- Feast: November 5

By -
Image
Elizabeth appears in the Gospel of Luke, where she is described as “righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly,”.  I imagine that she was warm, loving and obviously a safe harbour for young Mary, who was not married when she conceived.  When Mary came to visit her, Elizabeth was pregnant with St. John the Baptist and in her sixth month: “Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And how have I deserved that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, the moment that the sound of thy greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who has believed, because the things promised her by the Lord shall be accomplished.” 
Read more

The Memorare

By Helen Gonsalves -
Image
This popular prayer, a favorite of many Catholics, dates back to the 15th century and takes its name from the first Latin word of the prayer, "memorare," which means "remember." The Memorare is of unknown authorship, although it has been attributed to St. Augustine (354-430), St. John Chrysostom (c. 347-407) and, with more reason, to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (c. 1090-1153). St. Bernard's sermons on Mary were famous, and it was his Cistercian monks in the monastery of Citeaux in the 12th century who popularized the name "Our Lady" for Mary. The Memorare has also been attributed to the French cleric Claude Bernard (1588-1641), known as the "poor priest" of Paris, whose homilies contain passages that echo its words. No matter who wrote this prayer, it was Father Bernard who did much to popularize it, teaching it in hospitals and prisons, where Mary's intercession was effective in working miracles of grace. The first manuscript of the Mem...
Read more

'Greater Love: Richie Fernando SJ', a joy-filled Filipino missionary

By -
Image
 I haven't been able to post for more than a week as I was giving an eight-day directed retreat to eight sisters of the Missionaries of Charity near Manila. While I had some access to the internet it was rather slow. I had intended to make a post here on the murder of Fr Fausto Tentorio PIME , a 59-year-old Italian priest, in the Diocese of Kidapawan, Mindanao, on Monday 17 October. I will save that post for a later date. As I was looking for a video about Father Fausto I came across one about Brother Richard Michael 'Richie' Fernando SJ, a Filipino Jesuit scholastic who died while trying to prevent a troubled and disabled young man in Cambodia from throwing a grenade. That was in 1996 - on 17 October. Father Fausto gave his life exactly 15 years later. I remember the mixture of sorrow and pride I felt when I read of the death of Brother Richie, pride as a missionary in the Philippines that a young Filipino seminarian had given his life so spontaneously in order to sav...
Read more