It Starts With A Little Grace

Let’s face it: it’s been very hard for nearly five months now. Our routines have changed. We think twice about joining friends after work for a conversation or a weekend outing to a movie (if we do it at all). We worry about our health and the health of our loved ones, filled with concern over an unknown and unseen virus that feels like an ever-present threat. The news of increasing infection rates in our area only adds to how unsettled life seems to be.

All this adds up to frustration, and frustration can lead to feeling edgy and out of sorts. Being frustrated means we’re much more likely to lash out at those around us, and those closest to us are probably those we love most: spouses, children, parents, family members, close friends. It makes this season of COVID even more difficult. The last thing we need on top of fear and uncertainty is strained or broken relationships.

There is something powerful in affording everyone a little extra grace. Taking a deep breath, choking back that reactive, sharp remark and instead, putting on kindness, patience and love dissolves the tension. Each of us is God’s chosen. We are holy and beloved. Each and every one of us. When we get a little extra grace, the situation changes. We can breathe – and we can extend compassion to others because we have been blessed with that gift ourselves.

I pray that each man and woman who comes to Catholic Charities feels that breathing room, that kindness, that little bit of grace in a hard and challenging world. Thanks to you, Catholic Charities can be here to offer some respite in the midst of overwhelming barriers. The day someone walks through our doors is the day things can change for the better.

And it all starts with a little grace.