These days are opportunities for grace

I have heard from so many people who are filled with anxiety and dread, even a sense of hopelessness, not knowing what to do or where to go.  These can be occasions for despair or opportunities for grace.  We are being invited in these trying times to turn our gaze once again to the sacrifice our Lord made for us on the Cross on Calvary.   It speaks to us of God’s love - a love that is unconditional, without measure or limit, overflowing and all-powerful.  What we celebrate in this grace-filled season of Lent are the lengths that our God will go to redeem and to justify us from our sins and to provide the sufficient grace we need to gain eternal life.  There is a great deal we can do.  Spend time at home with your family, read the Sciptures, pray the rosary, pray for those in need especially those in need, call relatives and neighbors who might alone and isolated, offer sacrifices for the poor souls in purgatory and the sins of others.    For so many of us life is coming to a standstill.  We do not know what to do with ourselves and our time.  Businesses are closed; workplaces have sent people home; schools are shuttered; restaurants, entertainment venues, and stores have shut their doors; sports teams are suspended.   Life as we know it has come to a screeching halt.  Maybe now we can hear the voice of God - calling us to himself:  to be renewed in faith, to grow in perfect charity, to achieve perfect holiness of life.  God never abandons his people and, in fact, is closer to us in our suffering and in our need.  These days are opportunities for grace.  Strengthen the bonds of family love, reach out to those in need, deepen your faith.   So many things around us are really not very essential when all is said and done. But our relationship with God and his one, holy Church is indispensable.  Sometimes it takes tragedy, trial, difficulty and crisis to open people’s eyes and hearts to our utter dependence on God and His saving grace.  This is just such an opportunity for each of us.

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