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Preparing
for the Hurricanes to Come
Fr.
George Smiga
3
– 4 September 2005
Matthew
18:15 - 20
If
you are like me, over the last week your usual routine has
been disrupted by thoughts of the victims of hurricane Katrina
in New Orleans . Perhaps as you have been out enjoying our
beautiful weather, or sitting down to a meal, or appreciating
the comfort of your own home, you suddenly stop and reflect
upon the thousands of people without food or water, stranded
on their rooftops in one-hundred-degree heat. These thoughts
are disturbing, and the reason is clear. In one tremendous
blow the hurricane in New Orleans has dispelled the illusion
that our lives are secure. To watch as the great city of New
Orleans was reduced in a few hours to a toxic swamp is a frightening
reminder that there are powerful forces in our world over
which we have no control—destructive forces which have the
potential of ruining our lives.
Of
course I am talking here about something much broader than
the weather. For although there are no hurricanes in Northern
Ohio , all of us remain vulnerable to personal hurricanes
that can rob our lives of peace and joy. Much like Katrina,
these personal hurricanes arrive without warning and cannot
be controlled or stopped. Our usual lives can be torn apart
as we experience the death of someone we love, or the diagnosis
of a serious illness, or the reality of divorce within our
family, or a hurt that we cannot heal. Suddenly these storms
turn our lives inside out, and we have no choice but to endure
them.
Now
as Christians we believe that we can survive such tragedies
with God's help. We believe that Christ is with us and that
we will not carry our crosses alone. In today's Gospel, Jesus
says where two or three are gathered, he is there in the midst
of them. So in faith we believe that we can survive the upheavals
of our life.
But
Katrina suggests that we approach these upheavals from a slightly
different angle. It suggests that we ask not how we as believers
can survive the tragedies of our lives but rather is there
anything we can do to prepare for them? If you have been following
the commentary on the hurricane in the media, you know that
the discussion centers not only on helping New Orleans through
this crisis, but also on identifying what can be done so that
the city is better prepared next time. Katrina suggests that
we ask ourselves whether it possible to prepare for the personal
hurricanes of our lives?
Now
this at first might seem like an foolish question. After all,
how can we prepare when we do not know what is going to happen?
We do not know if we will be diagnosed with cancer or lose
our spouse or undergo some family upheaval. Like real hurricanes,
personal hurricanes come without warning and in way we cannot
predict. So it seems impossible to prepare for them. Yet there
is one step that we can take to make a difference. There is
one thing we can do to prepare for these personal storms in
our lives. We can be thankful today. The tragedy of any loss
is compounded when we realize that we never appreciated or
enjoyed what we had while it was still ours. A personal loss
is doubled when we have to admit that we took the things in
our life for granted, and now they are gone.
Therefore
if we want to prepare for the tragedies of life we must begin
by being thankful: thankful for our health, thankful for our
homes, thankful for our families, thankful for all the blessings
in our lives. Of course thankfulness usually flows into generosity.
After mass today we are accepting donations for the victims
of New Orleans . I encourage you to be generous. But it is
very important to know that this hurricane is not only about
the victims in New Orleans . It is also about us, and how
we chose to live our lives. None of us will be able to live
our life without eventually having to face some terrible personal
storm. That storm will bring losses—losses we cannot control,
losses we cannot stop. But what we can do is prepare. We can
be ready so that when those storms do their worst we will
be able to say, “I never took my health for granted. I was
always thankful for my home and for my lifestyle. I always
made sure that the people who I loved knew it.”
Hurricanes
will come, but we can prepare. Be thankful today.
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