He was talking about a family that he knew in Puerto Rico, and the young boy of the family (probably about 12 or 13 years old) was going one day to the park to play baseball. It was at night and starting to get dark, so he went and flipped the switch to turn the lights in the park on, and he got electrocuted and died.
The priest said that he had the chance to talk to the boy's mother a couple of days later, and the first thing that she said to him was (paraphrased), "It is difficult but I thank God for the time that He gave me with my son."
I thought that was an incredible statement to make, how could this lady be so strong in her faith? I hope I would do the same if such a tragedy would enter into my life (God willing it will not). I think there is just really a lot to learn from such faith.
A grateful heart is a joyful heart. If we are grateful for the things that we have and the things that we are given, we could not help but be joyful. The majority of us are blessed far beyond what we actually think. We have clothes to wear, food to eat, friends to talk to, fun to be had... these are not things we are entitled to, and they are certainly not things that everybody has or takes for granted. But yet, how often are we grateful for them?
In the end, let us have the attitude of GK Chesterton:
You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.
What are we grateful for?
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