Finding piety among the mosquitoes
By Catherine Richard, Youth Speak News
The other day my mom asked me to mow the lawn. Ordinarily, that wouldn’t seem like such a bad job. But when you consider the size of our lawn (it’s a half acre), and the fact that we only have a push lawn- mower, that perspective changes a little.
Also, you have to understand something. Over the past four weeks, Winnipeg has had torrential rains at least once a week, and those rains have produced mosquitoes. Tons of mosquitoes. In fact, radio announcers jovially announced a few days ago that we’re going to have the worst bout of mosquitoes we’ve had in 40 years. When you mix mosquitoes with heat, and those with a lawn mower and a big lawn, the effect can be horrible. I’m pretty sure that if Nero had been alive in the 21st century instead of the first, his favourite means of execution would have been death by lawn care!
Also, you have to understand something. Over the past four weeks, Winnipeg has had torrential rains at least once a week, and those rains have produced mosquitoes. Tons of mosquitoes. In fact, radio announcers jovially announced a few days ago that we’re going to have the worst bout of mosquitoes we’ve had in 40 years. When you mix mosquitoes with heat, and those with a lawn mower and a big lawn, the effect can be horrible. I’m pretty sure that if Nero had been alive in the 21st century instead of the first, his favourite means of execution would have been death by lawn care!
But seriously though, I made a mistake that day when I worked outside. I complained.
God is so funny. The day before this episode, I was praying, and I said, “You know what, God? You don’t give me enough suffering in life to offer up. Give me some more suffering.”
Ah, don’t you love those sudden moments of deep piety? I don’t know what I was imagining when I said “suffering” — maybe a broken arm, a bad ear ache or something. But God knew what He was doing. The next day, I stepped outside to mow the lawn and I found 20 mosquitoes gathering for a meal on my left kneecap!
Of course, being human, I promptly forgot about my prayer the night before and I spent the rest of the afternoon muttering about the terribleness of the day.
I would love to say I learned my lesson about suffering that day, and that I now get along splendidly with mosquitoes, but in truth, I really don’t. But that’s the beauty of sacrifice. You don’t have to even tolerate something in order to offer it up for the conversion of sinners or whatever. In fact, the less you like it, the better the sacrifice of suffering is. And, I really believe when you offer suffering up, joy comes in and becomes a kind of anesthetic to your suffering.
Look at St. Therese of Lisieux. She understood the truth of suffering and sacrifice so well, that when she had a coughing fit in the middle of the night, and then looked at her handkerchief in the morning and found blood on it, she could scarcely contain her joy at the possibility of having tuberculosis. I can imagine she could bring countless people to God through just one night of offering up her agony. I believe St. Therese’s joyful sacrifices are one of the huge reasons why she was canonized a saint.
It’s true that mosquitoes are not agonizing, unless you’re deathly allergic, but it’s also true that every little buzzer presents a chance to bring someone’s soul to God.
Take a look at your own life. What “mosquitoes” are causing you pain? What are you doing about it? Dare to accept the grace of sacrifice in an open hand. You have no idea what God has planned for you.
(Richard, 16, is a Grade 11 home-schooled student in Winnipeg.)
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