Brett's Two Cents

Hello everyone! The big news this week, of course, is the beginning of our return to in-person Masses! I can’t wait to start seeing all of you again! If you’ve forgotten who I am, I’m the one with the rather (ahem) high hairline who usually does announcements at the end of Mass! Nice to meet you all again!
 
With the return to Masses (and such a different Mass schedule, not to mention the continuation of restrictions), I imagine there will be plenty of opportunities for things to go sideways and folks to get annoyed with one another. In light of that, I offer a reflection that I’ve been praying with from Thomas á Kempis’ classic, Imitation of Christ. May it bear fruit for you! 
 

It is no test of virtue to be on good terms with easy-going people, for they are always well liked. And, of course, all of us want to live in peace and prefer those who agree with us. But the real test of virtue and deserving of praise is to live at peace with the perverse, or the aggressive and those who contradict us, for this needs a great grace. . . [In] this mortal life, our peace consists in the humble bearing of suffering and contradictions, not in being free of them, for we cannot live in this world without adversity. Those who can best suffer will enjoy the most peace, for such persons are masters of themselves, lords of the world, with Christ for their friend, and heaven as their reward.