Hajja Salesjana July-September 2020

H AJJA S ALESJANA 10 Are you a victor or a victim? I heard a preacher ask this the other night. It’s a good question. We need to make sure the answer, of course, is “victor.” That’s the easy part. But how do we “win”  — find happiness — in life? The answer is Christ, and in His Light, how we view situations. First, take a look at your heart. Be honest: Do you look at things positively or negatively? Are you looking to the future or mired in the past? When we’re living in the past, we are often living through the lens of the negative — dwelling on past sentimentalities or tragedies or loss; often, insults or injuries, which means we may have bitterness in our hearts. When we do the latter, our hearts and souls, our emotions, are marinating  in whatever it is that made us bitter. And when we wallow in such juice, we’re losers before the game even begins. Who hasn’t done that? Who hasn’t felt sorry for himself? And sometimes, we have what seems like darned good reason! There are folks who have suffered calamity after calamity — cancer, other serious disease, heartbreaks, and accidents all in one horrid package. I have a friend who had this occur in the course of a few short years — along with family problems, loneliness, and struggles in the workplace. Her response? At first anger at God. But she was courageous enough to shed this anger and it led to her conversion! That’s the result of making a decision for the positive and we are all called  in all things  to take a positive perspective. Yes, we acknowledge the negativity; yes, we know that we go through trials; and, yes, we are aware of evil. From time to time, the enemy attacks. But we are called to transcend it. And we do that by making the simple decision to accentuate what is positive. We can take all past sorrows and hurt and give it to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Take it to Him and watch darkness vanish. Trust in God makes us free. Look at the Blessed Mother. Most women who were scorned as pregnant without (initially) a formal husband, then chased down by a brutal tyrant, forced to give birth in the Top photo by Samuel Sun on www.unsplash.com Are You A Victor Or A Victim? The Choice Is Yours (www.spiritdaily.com) By Michael H. Brown (excerpt from the book A Life of Blessings )