About two months ago, I was greatly disturbed by a family matter that had been dragging on for the past ten years. After several attempts to have it resolved amicably proved futile, I resorted to getting legal advice. The issue is still being pursued by the lawyer that I had engaged. The dispute that stemmed from that whole affair truly disheartened me. There was one particular day that I felt most distressed over the entire episode. That morning, I was praying with the Shalom. It is a booklet with a devotional theme for each day of the month that many Catholics use with their daily prayers. One paragraph quoted from the Holy Bible for that day struck me. It was a conversation Jesus had with His disciples after their last meal. That exchange is known as the Farewell Discourses. Among them, He had said:
Peace I bequeath to you, My own peace I give you, a peace which the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. John 14:27 NJB |
I read those verses again and again. For a long time I have not felt the serenity that came over me that morning. More often than not, I had thought that I could make things happen the way I wanted. When they did not go the way I had expected, I would become all anxious and disconsolate. Since my journey with Jesus began many months ago, among others, I have progressively learnt patience and trusting in His providence. Life has become so much simpler. Peace was what I needed most during that distressing moment and peace was what He gave me. What more can I ask for?
Hi Peter
Just logged by as i have been thinking of ur other comment.
Saying you felt all stressed out and was becoming withdrawn. You don’t even have the vitality to be engaged in a simple conversation.
I do hope your feeling better in health n spirit.
The verse is beautiful, i myself have had times
when I’ve became withdrawn and found peace in scripture and silent prayer.
Somebody once told me good always comes after the bad,at first i thought “thats not not very comforting.But i realised if it didn’t.
Then we wouldn’t know the difference between good n bad.
Anyway keep the faith n try 🙂
tcz
Posted
Sweetspirit,
Thank you for your kind words. Yes, I agree that we have to go through rough times in order to appreciate the good ones. God bless.
i used to use this ‘shalom’ prayer/reflection book long ago but had stop using it. apart from ‘shalom’ there is another good book call ‘word among us’. have you seen it, peter? i heard from friends that among these 2, ‘word among us’ is better. many of the reflections are written by lay people like you and me, and not by priests or religious. the advantage of reflection written by lay people is that since they are like us, we can relate more to their reflections.
Lucia,
I usually collect my copy of the Shalom from church. I have not seen the other book anywhere. Are they available from the church too?
peter, i don’t know with your church but at my church, the ‘word among us’ is available. it is bigger than ‘shalom’ a little smaller than A5 size.
Lucia,
Thanks for the info. I will check again when I go to Mass this weekend.