Like what I shared with you last week, back in 2021, beginning of the St. Valentine’s Day weekend, Texas (and many other states) was hit by a historic snowstorm that brought sub-degree temperatures to a state that is ill-equipped and was not ready for such extreme cold. Many people were without power and water for days, and people suffered because their dwellings were not equipped for extreme weather. Out of the three parishes where I was assigned at the time, one got four pipes burst as the outcome of the cold temperature swing.
When the weather and road conditions were favorable enough to drive, I decided to drive and check up on my two smaller parishes. The smallest parish and its facilities were fine. I arrived an hour early to set up for our first Lenten Friday’s Stations of the Cross at my second parish and found water gushing out of the Parish Hall‘s foundation.
That is never a good sign!
When I opened the door, I found myself with water that was ankle-deep. I went outside to call for (additional) help. I was able to solicit help from a parishioner who was plowing and clearing the snow for our main parking lot. As a matter of fact, I found him already there when I came, unannounced and out of the goodness of his heart to show up and take care of the parish. Even until this day, I am still grateful that God moved hearts and made things happen in that particular way — in His infinite wisdom and providence — for that scenario to happen. So, we went to shut the water main and quickly picked up brooms and instruments to clean, clear, and sweep as much water and debris as to mitigate damage to the walls and the overall Hall’s structures. It took us a little more than three hours to get it in decent shape.
I called many plumbers for repair help, but many of them were backed up because of the storm. One answered but was very hesitant. I pleased and begged them to come since I would not be able to have Mass on Sunday without water! He finally agreed to have his guys come out first thing on Saturday morning. They found four busted pipes and fixed them for us (while a parishioner and I spent our time clearing out wet debris and dumping them). After they were finished with the job, the main guy handed me the old broken pipes and jokingly said, “Here, Pastor, I bet you can make a sermon out of these.”
I laughed. I took a picture of them. I ended up using them as “show and tell” for my Sunday homily, too… because I thought to myself, “If these suckers cost us that much energy, effort, time, and money (to repair), I might as well use them for something good!”
It was God‘s own providential way to teach me an important life and faith lesson as well. And, after much reflection and prayers, I have learned and taken two important points from that one episode. First, we cannot plan, see, or know everything, even with the best of our intention; second, the small things and their consequences really matter for they do affect the bigger reality and picture. These were two hard lessons to learn but they were very important to remember in my own journey of faith. Therefore, I hope what I have reflected on these two lessons could help you, too, on your own faith journey.
As a parish priest, I tried my best to stay ahead of the maintenance curves by planning ahead of time what needs to be done, so big expenses can be avoided and our buildings getting the appropriate care. This is not just a luxury or something nice to be done, but it is actually a prudential and needed practice since our budgets are small and tight for the smaller, rural, country parishes. Yet, no matter how much I can try to plan ahead and try my best to stay ahead, life always has its own way to catch each and every one of us off-guard. On top of fighting against the changing seasons, temperatures, and temperamental moods of nature, it is hard to guess, understand, know, and see what could happen to old buildings (especially the things that are hidden behind old walls, roofs, and foundations)!
This is a hard lesson for us to recognize within our very own selves, too. Even with our own best intentions and efforts, we are not in control of life and its unexpectedness, messiness, or surprises because we are finite. I know… none of us like to accept our limitations and finitude, but we cannot know, control, or able to plan everything. Contrary to our popular beliefs, thinking that we should or can somehow know, predict, and have more handle on things as we make more scientific or technological progress… We cannot do it all! Thus, the hardest but most important lesson of all is to accept our true human nature and the imperfections of life.
The second lesson lies in the broken pipes themselves. As you can see from the picture, the cracks were very small and slender. However, with the force of water that gushed through those cracks, it was able to do a lot of lot damage to the walls and a lot of the building. In the same way, too, there is no such thing as a small, insignificant sin! Each sin ruptured our relationship with God and punctured our souls with its effects. Our souls bleed slowly each and every time, and if it hits the right spot at the right time, it will bring us into a deep state of desolation, despair, hopelessness, frustration, anger, resentment, or separation from God and others. Too many of us have taken sin too lightly, and we go on sinning without ever turning to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, excusing ourselves that God is merciful and He will forgive. Yet, we have never taken ourselves seriously and humbly confess our sins to accept forgiveness and to reconcile with Him.
We might think that we are sorry and say the words on our lips, but too many of us lack the willingness to try our best to amend our lives, change our ways, and seek the conversion of heart to repay, do penance, and seek reparation for our sinful actions and their consequences against God and others. It is easy to say that we are sorry without wanting to stay away from near occasions of sin! It takes a gentle, sensitive, humble, and contrite heart to truly desire to do our best to love the Lord and avoid the self-centered excuses of having things our way, dismissing the gravity of sin, or taking advantage of God‘s mercy. I am not advocating scrupulosity, for that is the other extreme of worrying about every small thing. Nevertheless, both scrupulosity and laxity to sin without true conversion are based and centered on one’s self to either dictate our lifestyle or to be perfect according to our human abilities. Both extremities need to be avoided so we can truly embrace God‘s love, be able to savor His gift of mercy, and taste the real sweetness of His forgiveness.
To love requires us to truly care about the One who loves us beyond our understanding and finite measurements! God loves us that much, and so much more than what we can ever imagine. Therefore, to truly love Him is to be able to embrace all imperfections in life without losing hope or letting things make us frustrated, resentful, angry, despairing, or hopeless. To love also mean not to depend on ourselves to be perfect as if we have something to prove to Him, others, to our very own pitiful ego, or to simply brush off everything in order to live as we selfishly want and like at all costs. All extremities that are self-centered need to be rejected, dismissed, and let go so we can truly, humbly, genuinely, and lovingly give our very own self in acknowledging, accepting, receiving, and responding to God who truly loves us and cares for our good.
Therefore, let us try our best to avoid near occasions of sin so as to live united and with hearts lifted to Him. Let us try our best to love and give our all to Him in response to the love He has for us! Let us not be in control or think that life has to be perfect in order to truly be worthy of living and giving ourselves to seek true holiness and loving response to God. If life gets messy, let us step back and handle each situation with the grace given and needed at the moment. If He allows something to happen, even when it seems overwhelming and hard at times, He always gives us sufficient grace to endure and grow from the opportunity! If we see that sin is creeping in and trying to turn us away from Him, let us be quick to identify the temptation, its false trap, and enticing duplicity in order to avoid the near occasion of transgression, betrayal, or selfish decision against His love for us. And, even if we fall, do not be afraid of confessing our sins and receive the needed sacramental grace to amend our lives, to do penance, and stay closer to God‘s own loving heart.
Yes, life can be hard and challenging at times. Sometimes, things do fall apart even with our best intentions! Sometimes, we have forgotten to take care of ourselves, especially our souls and life of faith that we have allowed our souls to be dry and too punctured by the result and consequence of sins. Nevertheless, we can all take the time to return back to Him by confessing our sins, seeking forgiveness, and trying to amend our lives so as to be more united to Him instead of letting the things of this world and the temptations of the evil one who tries to lie, dupe, and deceive us from loving God. For even with broken pipes and numerous imperfections of life, there are still many things to learn and appreciate His providential care and goodness for us. I hope and pray that each and every one of us can receive and learn from what He has to teach us. May we abide, trust, and give our all to Him who loves us.
I Thirst (John 19:28) with Father Khoi 