Dear Parishioners of Mary Immaculate and Saint Rose,
It seems to me that I have lately fallen into the habit of voicing complaints regarding life during the covid virus, life before an election, and perhaps just the state of life in general.
The Gospel last Sunday (about the laborers who were hired in the morning, at noon, during midday, and in the late afternoon, and all paid the same wage) gave me cause to consider the generosity of God. The Lord is so very generous to us. He doesn’t just extend us His mercy and forgiveness; He showers us with His blessings.
It is part of human nature to want more. No matter how good our life is, we want it to be better.  When we have a desire to possess something, we consider all sorts of means to acquire it. And once we are able to buy it we are only satisfied for a short time before we set our sights on something new and that becomes the desire of our heart. If we are truthful with ourselves, nothing in the world ever satisfies us for very long. We know that our longing is for God and we want to be with Him.
A few years ago I decided I needed to be more grateful to God for all His many blessings to me. So I began to thank God more often in my prayer. It is too easy to fall into thinking of what I do not have. It is a little harder to look around and thank God for the many things I have that I just expect I should have. I am grateful that I have enough to eat, that I have a warm place to live. I am grateful for a family that loves me. I am thankful for good health, for the gift of my Catholic Faith, and for the wonderful gift of being called to be a priest. Once I begin looking for blessings, I find that they are everywhere!
But I still fall into complaining when I can’t do or have what I want. This is such a trick of the devil. It makes me feel down and steals my joy. The antidote for this is remembering the generosity of our God and how even in hardship we are blessed because He is with us. So even in time of pandemic let us give praise to the Lord for His goodness to us:
Psalm 121:7-8
The Lord will guard you from all evil;
He will guard your life.
The Lord will guard your coming and your going
both now and forever.
Msgr. Cox
The Figure of Christ, Heinrich Hofmann (1884)